Seeds of Innocence
by TedIsMyHero
Summary: Second installment of the Deception Trilogy. Samus gets set up to take the fall for attacks on the Confederation. Along the way, she takes a girl under her wing...but the girl turns out to be more than meets the eye...
1. Chapter 1

METROID: SEEDS OF INNOCENCE

PROLOGUE

Behind the fierce melee, Ridley had reached Samus. He landed in front of the small cliff she was on, and she somersaulted down to his level. Just as good and evil met on this field, storied rivals now met. Each showed a mutual respect for the other's abilities...as well as an intense hatred that burned like the hottest plasma.

Samus began circling Ridley, and he kept a watch on her. It was like a game hunter stalking a lion. The lion was the stronger of the two, yet the hunter had the right equipment to dispatch the wild beast.

Ridley struck at Samus, but she jumped to the side, avoiding the gnashing teeth. His quick tail however, caught Samus in the side, knocking her down. Ridley tried to take advantage by raising his foot to step on her. His mistake was bearing his chest. Samus unleashed the spirit blast. Ridley shrieked as the beam burned through his hide and boiled it. He slyly rolled off of the beam and clutched his chest with his large claw as he breathed desperate breaths glancing at Samus.

She pulled herself off of the ground and began walking toward the beast. When she approached the injured pirate, she once again watched the wrong thing. His tail whipped through the air and knocked Samus airborne. Ridley followed up by hurling two meson bombs at Samus. The first one connected with her back and knocked her out of the air. The second bomb whizzed by. Propelled by incredible force, it kept going. 

Samus bellyflopped on the ground with a small bounce. The bomb had melted away her Chozo armor in one section. Her burn proof undersuit was unburned, but her skin had boiled to blisters underneath, the bumpy texture showing through.

Samus tried to lift herself. She managed to straighten her arms, but the pain consumed her. It felt like she was engulfed in fire. The meson bombs also contained a nerve toxin. She must have absorbed the residue after the heat had melted her suit.

Instead of flopping back on her stomach, she managed to fall onto her side and look at her predator. Ridley still clutched his chest, strips of charred skin hanging from between his digits. He now stood over her.

She could see his breath...even smell it.

He tried to sense her fear...he found none.

Ridley raised his free arm to administer the death strike, but a noise paused him.

A massive explosion was heard in the distance. Samus turned her head to see.

Smoke was rising from the side of the wrecked ship. Some black, some a strange grey color. After a minute of scrutiny, the grey smoke seemed to be moving toward the valley instead of rising into the air. Samus would continue to watch, but a gut feeling told her otherwise. She turned back toward Ridley.

He had changed his focus back to Samus as well. He smiled with his saurian teeth. Samus could nearly feel his sadistic glee. He once again raised his claw.

As soon as he began his downswing, Samus closed her eyes and raised her arm.

Then she felt a rush...

... 

...but no pain...

She opened her eyes, fully expecting to see an omniscient deity telling her that she was dead, but that wasn't exactly the case.

Ridley had a metroid attached to his arm. He was swinging it wildly, trying to remove the creature. As he raised his claw to strike it, another metroid latched onto his other claw. The dactylian shrieked in terror and pain as he was rendered helpless by the energy sapping creatures. One after another, the metroids locked onto Ridley. At first, he fiercely fought them, but the injured pirate lost his energy quickly. Soon, he shrunk to the ground, then crumbled into a pile of dust. 

The metroids cooed and floated around Samus.

She rolled to her other side and gazed upon the field of battle. The metroids had attacked the pirates and ultimates. Piles of dust were blowing away in the wind as the metroids floated above the now quiet battlefield.

Samus gathered her strength and forced herself to get up. She made her way slowly to a very still mass of Chozo. They had surrounded a group of hunters.

Inside the circle were four hunters standing back to back, prepped for conflict.

One by one, the Chozo turned and acknowledged Samus, allowing her to enter the ring.

When the hunters saw her, they stood up straight and faced her.

"Samus Aran?" one of them asked.

"I am Samus," she responded.

"Samus, we were ordered to dispatch you. I assure you the rewards are high," the hunter said.

"I'm sure you are, but as you can see, I'm in no shape to fight, of course, neither are you," Samus said.

"Well, ma'am. You can't very well get paid if you're dead," the hunter replied.

"So that means..." Samus started.

"By your leave, ma'am. We'll be on our way back to the combine," stated the hunter. 

"Oh, by all means. And hunter..." Samus remarked. 

"Ma'am?"

"Don't screw up again. I'll get better," Samus said as she removed her helmet, glancing directly into the facemask of the hunter.

"Understood," acknowledged the hunter as he and his troupe filed through the Chozo and disappeared into the mountains.

Samus looked around bodies of fallen Chozo, hunters, pirates, and ultimates seemed to line the valley. The mountains had acted like the sides of a bowl, containing the bloodshed in a trough, not allowing the destruction to flood over into the rest of the planet.

The Chozo chief and his remaining warriors celebrated in triumph.

The mission was complete. The threat had been eliminated.

Samus sent out a communiqué to her ship.

"It's time to go," she said through the comm channel.

"Yes, ma'am, however, there's a message for you that might suggest otherwise..." responded her ship AI.

"Wonderful..." Samus sighed. 

The ship descended on the recently defiled valley, kicking up dust and debris as the Chozo all shielded their eyes. After a moment the dust settled as the ship maintained a serene hover three feet from the ground, not even making the tiny blades of grass quiver.   
Samus hopped up on the ship and grabbed the com responder. 

"This is Samus,"

"Ms. Aran, this is President Magnusson,"

"Is it dinnertime already? Come on, I just finished the mission. The pirates' influence here is gone," said Samus.

"Your job isn't completely finished," replied the President.

"I must be missing something," Samus remarked.

"We've added a directive to your mission," Magnusson said.

"A little late for that, isn't it? You can't really add a directive to a completed mission...can you?" asked Samus, confused.

"If you wish to be paid and not to be released from the combine, you will follow the orders as they are given," demanded the President. 

"Well in that case, what do you have for me this time?" asked Samus bitingly.

"You are to eliminate all metroids on the Planet Zebes," stated the President.

"...Now wait...the metroids I encountered here were peaceful and isolated. They pose no threat and would do fine just to be left alone where they were found," Samus reasoned.

"They are to be destroyed with no question. Their demise has been planned for long enough, and it's time for them to be eliminated. I expect the objective to be completed upon your return. Magnusson out..." 

Samus dropped the com responder and looked around. Metroids hovered silently around the battlefield. All of them must have come when the hole was blown in the hull of the wrecked ship.

Something was already wrong...

The metroids began glowing and undulating from side to side and up and down. One by one they 'popped' and the entrails fell to the ground in a pile of sludge. After a few moments, there were only a handful of metroids left...the ones that had fed upon Ridley.

The metroids, over the time they had spent inside the wrecked ship's reactor core, had developed a dependence upon the radioactivity that still pulsed within the chamber. Instead of feeding off of life-force, they used radioactivity to sustain themselves. Outside the confines of the reactor chamber, they didn't stand a chance unless they chose to feed. It was as if a domesticated wolf were released into the wild; they had no instincts for survival.

Most of the objective had been completed in the matter of a few minutes...so Samus assumed that she needed to finish the job.

She looked at the Chozo. As if already knowing her intentions, they all turned and walked back into the mountains on the path they had used to launch their assault. 

Only Samus now remained with the seven remaining metroids. She never saw herself as an exterminator, but now that seemed to be her means to an end.

Against the will of her heart, she raised her arm cannon to aim at the metroids. One cooed, and the noise sent Samus into furious thought...

...the girl hunter...

...why did she kill her...

...she stood in the way of her objective...

...but she was just a child... 

...she had attacked her with intent to kill...

...but she was an innocent...

...acceptable losses...

...the primary directive is to complete the mission...

When Samus snapped back to reality, only an echo could be heard bouncing off of the mountains and cliffs encasing the valley. A dark circle was etched in the side of the rock facing.

No metroids were in sight...there were none left living.

She had resorted to killing without thinking...organisms that had shown nothing but care for her, she had wrested their lives contemptuously from them, only to assure that no more would exist...upon the command of a man who knew nothing of a grand design of any sort...a man who considered loss of life for a cause 'acceptable'...

It was now time to go...

Samus reached inside of her ship and removed an item. 

She walked into the rubble and scooped the remains of a metroid into the canister, sealing it upon completion. She could afford to risk taking one 'in the name of science'. Now that none were left alive, there should be no problems with a corpse...surely...

CHAPTER 1

Hunter Log 3852  
The metroid remains are still glowing. It must be the residual radiation from being in the reactor core. I've got an idea for what to do with it, however. It needs to be studied. I'll have to make a side trip on the way back to the combine, but that doesn't matter much, it's a long trip anyway. Besides, that president really has a way of getting under my skin...

Samus out

"Grady, take us to Planet SR-388."

"Ma'am?"

"You heard me. Plot a course for orbit. There's something I've got to take care of." said Samus.

"Well, ma'am, I would, but there's a slight problem. Remember that starship from before?" 

"Yes...why?" asked Samus.

"It's in the way, ma'am."

"Pull up a visual, Grady." 

"Yes, ma'am."

A panoramic image swept across the front visor of Samus' ship. After flickering a few times, the image became stable.

"It's not even in synchronous orbit...it's just floating there..."

"I'm not picking up any signals from the ship, and shields are down, ma'am." 

"Let's dock with it; I want to check it out." Samus said.

"Yes, ma'am..."

The ship turned and flew toward the massive star cruiser. It entered the docking bay and landed as quietly as it had on Zebes. Samus exited, sure to have her oxygen working for the open bay.

As she approached the pressurization chamber, she noticed that the door was still open. There was no sign of forced entry, however.

She entered the chamber and shut the door. Hisses escaped from the vents as Samus felt pressure relieve from her eardrums. She turned her oxygen off to conserve it, and opened the door to the inside of the ship.

The first corridor was impeccable. The lights were bright, the floors and walls were clean, and not a particle of anything was out of place. In other words, too perfect.

Samus continued until she reached another door, which opened from her proximity. It revealed, once again, a perfect hallway stretching from her left to her right. Perfectly clean, perfectly silent.

She wasn't sure which way to go, but before long, she got her answer.

Far to her right, Samus heard a small tap. In the midst of the silence, it resounded off the walls and grew in intensity by the time it reached her ears. 

She walked slowly down the hallway with her arm cannon ready. She heard another tap.

Her pace sped slightly. She heard another tap, higher in intensity, lower in pitch.

She began to round a turn. Another tap, this time almost with a liquid quality. 

Around the turn she saw the end of the corridor. At first glance, it appeared perfect like the previous two, but something was wrong.

From down the way, Samus noticed there was a room to the left of the door at the end of the corridor. As she approached, she noticed that part of the door framing had been dented. The impression was that of a five fingered fist...a human fist. It was slender...either an effeminate male, or a female left this imprint. Samus figured it was the latter.

When she placed her hand upon the door, it slid freely with the motion of her hand. A feature she was sure wasn't available on this ship. She studied the frame and saw that the punch had disabled both the lock and the drive train on the door. The pieces of the latching mechanism on the floor supported that theory. There was her forced entry.

She then saw the result of the forced entry. A space pirate lie on the floor with its head splattered on the corner of a metal box. From the looks of the box, it had suffered repeated strikes from the space pirate's skull. The corner was completely blunted. The pirate evidently didn't provide the answers its assailant required.

Another noise brought Samus back to attention. It was through the door of the corridor.

Samus dashed out and went through the automatic door, revealing the bridge. Immediately to her left, she heard running footsteps as she caught the glimpse of a foot just before it exited through another door. Her focus then turned to the equipment of the bridge. Every console either had a bomb attached or had already been destroyed by a blast of some kind. Space pirates littered the ground. This was not good.

Samus turned and dashed back into the hallway towards the docking bay. She had no time to pursue the one responsible. She had to save herself on this one. 

She rounded the curve and continued to dash toward the door to the docking bay. She readied her oxygen. As she reached the door, she unleashed a Chozo beam blast that incinerated the inside and the outside doors to the pressurization.

The vacuum didn't matter to Samus, as she was running with the flow. As she hopped on top of her ship, a blast rocked the star cruiser and caused it to list immediately, almost knocking Samus from her ship. As she slid, she managed to hang on with her left hand.

Samus pulled herself up and fell inside her ship.

"Grady, get us out now," Samus ordered as she righted herself in her seat.

"One step ahead of you, ma'am.

The ship blasted out of the docking back and back into space.

"Reverse visual of the ship, Grady."

"Yes ma'am."

The display came up once again, showing the massive ship falling into the atmosphere of Zebes. The image seemed strange to Samus... Had that been what happened to CV-10962 before it crashed into the planet? Was the same person responsible?

She didn't have time for this. It was not in her plans.

"Grady, I assume our course is now clear for SR-388?"

"Starting on course for orbit, ma'am."

"Take over for me; I've got to sort some things out." Samus sighed.

"Yes, ma'am."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

HUNTER LOG 3853  
I could have easily gone down with the ship that time. I'm still fatigued from the fight on Zebes, especially from the toxin in Ridley's meson bomb. I guess my adrenaline was what got me though that one. My shoulder is killing me, must have dislocated it hanging from the ship.

Who else was on that starship? As far as I knew, I was the only one sent here. No matter, just one stop on the ride...home...I...need a vacation.

Samus ...o...

"Ma'am?"

"Huh, what? Yeah, what is it, Grady?"

"We're approaching SR-388.

"We are?"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, you fell unconscious. You were out for nearly 30 hours..."

"Ugh...I feel like I have a hangover...it must have been the running on the ship...I must have pushed that toxin through my system," 

"Could be, ma'am. We're now in orbit." 

"Maintain the orbit, Grady. We're looking for a big rock,"

"A rock, ma'am?

"It's a space station, Grady. I looks like a big rock with a ring around it," 

"Confirmed, ma'am. I have a visual."

"Take us in. I have a package to deliver,"

As the ship grew closer, the "rock" grew larger. As if it recognized the ship, the large space installation opened a large retractable door as a welcome.

Grady took the ship in and landed softly on the pad. The door slid and sealed as gas seeped into the room, creating a breathable atmosphere.

Samus arose from her ship with a canister cradled in her left arm. She stepped down gently, then hopped to the floor. Her knees tried to give way, but she caught herself with her right arm, which caused her to cringe in pain. 

"That's definitely not the hunter I remember...The one I remember could stand up on her own," laughed a man entering the room.

"And that's definitely not the scientist I remember...I believe he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut," Samus said as she righted herself.

"Touché'. You would have to agree, though, that you've seen better days," the man said.

"You could say that. I've brought you something, Matthew," Samus said, offering up the canister. 

"Ooh, what is that? A new toy? Possibly a pet?" asked Matthew with false excitement.

"I wouldn't give you a dead dog. It's a metroid," Samus said.

"A what!" Matthew exclaimed, fumbling the canister and nearly dropping it on the floor.

"Don't worry, it's dead. It's pretty much all that's left of the metroids," Samus explained. 

"So you had to kill them...that's a shame. I do thank you for bringing this one. Just because it's dead doesn't mean we can't study it," Matthew said, shrugging.

"This is quite a different place than the Ceres station," Samus said, looking around.

"Quite. We've managed to create six completely independent ecosystems on this asteroid fragment. It's really incredible. Scientists that desire to preserve life and help humanity, like myself, have always dreamed of a place like this. Now we have the resources to do our best for the Confederation, and everybody else. I'm just lucky I was out gathering supplies for the station during that attack," Matthew explained.

"You have no idea," Samus responded, rolling her eyes.

"Well, just imagine me coming back...or thinking I had come back. I thought I was lost, looking for something that wasn't there. I never thought going for groceries would save my life...or get me a promotion..." Matthew said, smiling.

"Oh please. Spare me. Anyway, I need to you help me repair this suit," Samus said.

"You mean the one that's falling off of you?" asked Matthew. 

"Something like that. What do you say?" Samus inquired.

Matthew walked over and ran his hand across the arm, then examined the shoulders and back.

"I can't say I'm familiar with this material. What is it again?" asked Matthew, cocking an eyebrow.

"I really have no idea. It wasn't mine to begin with," said Samus.

"I can salvage a bit of it, but I'll have to 'fill in the blanks' with what we have available," Matthew said, complete with air quotes. 

"Do what you can. In the meantime, I've got to find a bed," Samus said, walking past Matthew.

"Hold it, it looks like you took quite a bit to the back. The only bed you're going to find is in the medical ward," Matthew insisted.

"If it has a pillow, it'll work for me," Samus said, waving a hand. 

--------------------------------

Samus awoke with a flinch...and a pinch.

"What are you doing to me?" she asked.

"Acupuncture. It'll help the pain in your shoulder. Now please, lie still," said the woman.

"Samus! Good to see you're back among the living," said Matthew as he entered the room.

"Yeah, yeah, who brought this psycho in?" she asked, nudging her head toward the female acupuncturist.

"Don't look at me. I have no control over what goes on in the medical ward. I do however, have creative control over the tech department. I think you'll like your 'new clothes'," Matthew said.

"Okay, I'm coming," Samus said as she got up, pulling the needles out of herself in one handful and dropping them on the floor.

"But your treatment..." started the woman.

"Oh yeah, feels great," Samus said as she left the room with Matthew.

"Right this way. We took the original material and covered each of the major plates on your armor. We used samples to synthesize similar material, which was used for the flexible joints in the suit. All in all, it should be relatively close to what the old armor was, just not as light," Matthew said as they entered a room with the suit on display.

"Is it ready for me to use it?" Samus asked as she reached out and touched her armor.

"As far as I know. Just remember, this isn't that last suit you had. If you get hit with what hit you last time, I can't guarantee that the synthetic material will stop it was well as the original stuff," Matthew warned.

"Hey, don't worry about me. Just take care of your new "friend", and do what you can with it. You know I respect what you do," Samus said as she began suiting up.

"Hey, I'm just as happy as when you brought me the metroid at Ceres, but Samus, you know, I worry about you. You're not your usual self. I know you're hiding something, but it's not my business to ask. So I won't. Just take care," Matthew said.

"I appreciate it, but don't waste your worry on me. You've worried about me before, and I've proved you wrong every time. Just let me deal with this in my own way," Samus insisted.

"That's what I always let you do. Now here. The doc gave me these pills. Make sure you take them as he prescribed. It'll detoxify your system. They said that nerve toxin really took a toll on you," Matthew said.

"I try not to remember. I'll see you around," said Samus as she walked out of the room and down the hall.

"Yeah...see you around..." Matthew trailed off.

Samus strode back into the hangar to her ship. She leapt on top of it with a renewed sense of energy. She felt virtually no pain in her shoulder, a sharp contrast to when she arrived. She jumped back down into the cockpit and flopped down into her seat, an action that reminded her that her back was still a bit tender.

"Good to see you back, ma'am."

"Good to be back, Grady," said Samus. 

"Back to the combine?"

"You got it. Are you too tired to drive?" asked Samus.

"You know me, ma'am. The hard working insomniac."

"Then let's get to the combine," Samus ordered.

"Yes, ma'am. The trip will be two hours in hyperspace."

"That's good, Grady, it'll give me time to record my post-mission report," 

Z:ENTRY:PMREPORT.FLE

Z:LOGIN 

Z:USERSAMUSARAN

Z:PASSWORD

Z:ACCEPTED 

WELCOME SAMUS.

BEGIN RECORDING IN 3...

2... 

1...

0...

My first objective was at the asteroid base Orpheus. President Marcusson sent me there with no particular orders. Upon arrival, I encountered another hunter, a Paul Silverwolf. The hunter quickly initiated an attack, and I had no choice but to defend myself. In the process of the fight, the station was damaged, and Silverwolf was lost into space.

After leaving Orpheus, I received orders to revisit Zebes. Reports showed evidence of it being rebuilt by Space Pirates and rebel hunters. On the way to Zebes, I stopped at Alpha Outpost to have modifications done to my ship. While I was there, it was assaulted by a hunter ship. The blasts completely destroyed the outpost. The weapons were obviously Space Pirate technology. I followed the ship into a hyperspace jump, which strangely ended in my destination: Zebes. 

The planet was held together by large beams emitted from a center location. There were five massive planet fragments still in tact, with obviously smaller pieces in between, still held there by gravity.

I managed to infiltrate the installation and discover many secrets of the Space Pirate base. They used the Chozo to power the planet. They also subjected them to harsh torture and sacrificial rituals.

When I went into CV-10962, I discovered a completely independent ecosystem in the reactor core that sustained the lives of thousands of metroids. They had seemingly been 'tamed' by not having animals on which to feed. They managed to learn how to draw energy from the reactor for nourishment. It was here that I encountered the Pirate leader Ridley. I also saw a vast army of Space Pirates, and among them were hundreds of hunters.  
As I explored more, I encountered large laboratories. All had several sizes of tanks containing test subjects, alive, deceased, comatose. It was here that I had another attempt on my life, once again, by another hunter. I fought her to the death, but it was only after I had given the decisive blow that I discovered that she was just a young teenager...and unwilling participant in this whole conflict. Marcusson would deem it an 'acceptable loss'. Regardless, I pressed on, encountering genetically engineered pirates and freeing the Chozo from their imprisonment.

I eventually made it to the center station, the control for the entire planet. There I encountered an old friend. Lieutenant Commander Malachi Jefferson was at the center of the rebuilding effort. He had betrayed the Confederation out of jealousy. My conflict with Malachi resulted in his death.

Shortly after my meeting with Malachi, I returned to the surface to take the Chozo into battle against the Pirates and rogue hunters. The battle was massive and bloody. Many lives were lost, wasted, but the threat was eliminated, thanks to the Chozo, as well as the metroids.

After the battle, I released the small remaining squadron of hunters, and was ordered by Marcusson to dispose of the remaining metroids. As it turns out, I only had to destroy a handful. Most burst into puddles of jelly from being outside of the sustained radioactive environment that supported them for so long.

My report concludes with a request. Give me my vacation...

End report.

REPORT CONCLUDED.

ARCHIVE? Y/N?Y

REPORT ARCHIVED. RETRIEVE DISK.

DISK RETRIEVED.

END PROGRAM...

GOODBYE 

Samus reached forward and removed the disk from its slot and placed it into a case. She relaxed her hands in her lap and stared out the window.

To look so peaceful at a glance, the universe was such a hostile place. Those that lived back on Earth in the days of the industrial empires and pollution must have really suffered. In their limited scope, they only had a single planet to sustain them, and a single planet to wreck. Always fighting over petty differences of races and beliefs, they never once thought of everyone as humans, and as equals in rights to life. Any person from that era would probably go into cardiac arrest at a hunter combine.

"We've come a long way, Grady," Samus said.

"Yes ma'am, nearly a light-year." 

"That's not what I mean. I mean civilization. Those from Earth. Views have changed so much," Samus remarked.

"It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has. I wonder how much more time we'll have to change even more..." said Samus.

"You know what they say, ma'am. Change starts at home."

"That's a good saying...if you have a home...but I know what you mean," Samus responded as she shut her eyes.

"Approaching the combine, ma'am. They're attempting to contact us. I'm opening up the line."

"Hello?" 

"I see you have nothing better to do, President," said Samus. 

"Blasted technology. I wanted to see to it that you completed your objectives personally," 

"I feel so special..." Samus sighed.

"This meeting will not be as formal as the last. Feel free to come as you are," 

"I think I will. It ought to be better that way," Samus said.

"And I already have another job lined up for you, I hope you don't mind," 

Samus quivered and spoke through a toothy smile, "Mind? Me? Never, it's always a pleasure," she said.

"Excellent. I'll see you in the conference room. Marcusson out," 

So much for vacation...


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Hunter Log 3854  
If I weren't a work-a-holic, I don't know what I'd do. I'd prefer not to think about that. I'm always in those kinds of love/hate relationships. I love my job...and in this situation...hate my boss.

I wonder how Matthew is doing with that dead metroid. He's not accustomed to working on cadavers, especially with a species like the metroid where any in captivity were living and sustained. I'm sure he'll find something to do with it, he always has before. Maybe that's why I trusted him...no matter.

Time to venture back into hell...

Samus out.   
Samus went through the motions as her ship docked with the combine. All eyes on deck seemed to be locked on her ship as it settled. With boyish excitement, several guards ran to her ship to greet her. They did everything they could to keep their tongues in their mouths...then she emerged.

Disappointed by her full suit of armor, the guards seemingly dragged their feet back to their posts.

"Sorry to disappoint, boys, but I can't quite please everybody," Samus smirked to the guards.

She continued to walk toward the door as she whipped her hair around into a rubber band to form a pony tail.

Once the door opened, she was face to chest with a quite battered figure.

"Shigger?" Samus questioned.

At the sound of her voice, the massive beast tripped backward and toppled onto the floor. 

"N-no...noooo!" screamed Shigger as he backpedaled on his hands.

Samus just looked at him, bewildered.

"I don't care anymore! Just don't hurt me again!" Shigger shouted as he shielded his face with his arms. 

"Shigger, you look pathetic. Now get out of my way so I can get to the conference room," said Samus.

Shigger huddled against the wall so Samus could pass. It was obvious that he didn't forget his suffering at her hands the last time she was there. Samus merely passed by, not even shooting a glance.

Samus continued down the boring hallways of the combine. She remembered why she never frequented these halls. There was no excitement here; no danger around the next corner. The only hunters that hung around this place for long were those that often had nowhere else to go, for a job or otherwise. Those too inept to find work as hunters were often enlisted by the Confederation as janitors or maintenance workers. From her recent encounter with Shigger, she had noticed his garb was not that of a hunter's, but more so that of a janitor's. She had a hand in that...a delightful one ...chauvinist beast...

Finally, she came to the doors of the conference room, but as she did, something dawned on her. There had been no guards inside the actual combine, and the only being roaming the halls had been Shigger. Why was the Combine so quiet? She opened the doors and entered.

"Ah, Samus, back from the mission already! And in record time as well!" said President Marcusson as he walked toward Samus with his arms stretched outward.

"Spare me the cordiality. I wanted a vacation, but it seems like you'd rather not grant me one. What's the problem? Where is everybody?" asked Samus.

"There seems to be a problem at the Delta Combine. We've dispatched all hunters able to fight to that location," said Marcusson with a grim look.

"Why? What happened?" Samus asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"It started with an explosion at the interior of the station. They thought it was just a malfunction with some of the equipment at first, but then more explosions rocked the combine. According to their security video, only one person is responsible, unfortunately, they can't find that person. In addition to the confusion, no ships or crafts of any kind have left the combine since long before the incident occurred," Marcusson explained.

"One person? Only one?" Samus was astounded.

"Is it that strange to you that one person caused such massive damage?" asked Marcusson with his eyebrow raised.

Samus stared into space in deep thought. No one she knew, pirate or hunter, could assault an entire station in one run and disappear like that.

"Samus?" 

"Yes...yes, what?" she snapped back to reality. 

"We had received one lone transmission from Delta Combine following the explosions..." Marcusson said.

"What did it say?" Samus inquired.

"It was not on the combine wavelength...it was a rogue communication device...and they asked for you, Samus. They asked for you by name," Marcusson said, bowing his head.

Samus nodded, then turned and began to walk out of the room.

"Samus, where are you going?" Marcusson asked.

"To give them what they want," Samus said.

"Samus, do NOT go to that combine!" ordered Marcusson.

"Why not? Because you said so? You haven't commissioned me for a job yet, so I'm free to do as I wish," Samus said, continuing out the door.

"I'm ordering you! I'm the president, dn it!" Marcusson cursed.

"Not mine..." Samus replied as she rounded the corner.

"You get back here!" Marcusson yelled as he ran after her.

Just as he rounded the corner to see Samus' back, a large shock rumbled the entire combine. Samus braced herself with her arm, but Marcusson flew against the wall, head first.

"What was that!" asked Samus as she spun around to see Marcusson lying in the floor. There was a splatter of red on the wall.

Samus walked over, despite the rumbling, and tried to check his pulse. She didn't find one. She checked his eyes, but they were rolled back into his head. The president was dead.

She somehow knew if she stayed, she would be joining him, so she turned and ran to her ship.

Just as she rounded the last turn toward the docking bay, a blast erupted right in front of her, sending her flying backwards through the air. She landed and skidded several feet before stopping, stunned.

When she opened her eyes, all she saw were floating multicolor orbs, just like the ones you see after looking into a light for too long. She figured that the blast had burned her corneas. She was helpless at the time being, but she had to make it to her ship...

Samus lie in the floor motionless. She tried to move, but couldn't manage even a twitch. The outer hull had been ruptured in the blast. The suction began to pull Samus' limp body toward the void.

In her mind, she had begun to resign to death. She wouldn't escape this one. One last breath...

As Samus inhaled, a jerk caused her to exhale suddenly. Her eyes snapped open as a reflex. She looked back. Amidst the orbs, Samus saw a shadow of a figure pulling her away. After a moment, she felt herself hefted on the back of the figure. The motion from being carried caused her to feel faint, then she lost consciousness.

The figure carried Samus through the maze of corridors around to the other side of the docking bay. It opened Samus' ship, then sat her inside. It then engaged the autopilot command and jumped down.

Samus floated back to consciousness briefly in response to the ship movement. She lifted her head to look out the front window. She could see the figure for a moment, then another massive explosion. After the explosion, the figure was gone.

Samus rested her head down.

"We're heading for safety, ma'am,"

"W-where is that, Grady?" Samus forced her breath out.

"The Beta Outpost, ma'am," 

"Beta? Why?" asked Samus. 

"Because that's where she said to go, ma'am, 

"She..." Samus fell unconscious again.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

HUNTER LOG 3855  
Note to self...never leave the helmet behind... That makes me wonder what would have happened if I had been without it when I fell in the ship on Zebes...

Something is definitely going on. The explosions at the Delta and Alpha hunter combines...then reports coming in over the public com links saying that Beta and Gamma have been hit as well. President Marcusson is dead...

The strikes don't resemble those by pirates, so that should rule them out...but who would carry out such a massive assault against bounty hunters specifically?

And who was "she"? 

Samus out...  
Samus cut off the link for her log as she rubbed the back of her skull with her other hand. There was a rather large lump, sensitive to the touch. Her vision had begun to return to her. She was fine in the dark, but would still probably struggle a bit in lighted environments. 

"Grady, how far are we from Beta Outpost?" asked Samus.

"Just on the other side of this asteroid belt, ma'am," 

"Asteroid belt?" she questioned.

Just as she finished her sentence, the ship started banging and clanging.

"There is more debris here than I expected. Something has disrupted the field... Scanning for results..." 

Through the front glass, Samus saw the asteroid debris clear...aimed directly at the ship was the massive primary MAC gun of Beta Outpost.

"Scanning complete. Judging from the heat readings, the MAC gun was fired recently," 

"Is there any damage to the outpost?" Samus asked.

"None, ma'am. I've gained clearance to dock," 

"Fine. Go ahead, Grady..." Samus trailed off as she brought up displays of side and rear views.

"Looking for something, ma'am?" 

"Nothing in particular..." Samus said, trailing off again.

Grady brought the ship into the massive hangar and sat it down. The bright lights inside were already grating on Samus' head. She wasn't ready to go out in that yet as she was. She grabbed her helmet and adjusted the visor to dim the lights.

After donning the helmet, she exited the ship.

"Ah! A hunter! It's good to see you! We had quite a scare earlier, especially with what's going on at the combines," said a man as he approached Samus.

"I guess so. I see you had to fire your MAC," Samus remarked.

"Yeah! It was incredible, it moved the entire outpost! I...AHEM!...sorry, it was my first time to be here when it was fired. Our motion sensors detected an unidentified ship, but our visible scanners didn't pick up anything. We couldn't confirm movement with an actual visual, but we did manage to detect a small heat signature. I registered only about the size of an open palm on our scanner. After a few moments of failed communication, we fired the MAC," explained the man.

"Did it hit anything?" Samus asked.

"After it entered the asteroid field, we lost track of it. The heat signature was no longer detected, however, so we consider it a success," the man said.

"It depends on how you define success. That thing could still be out there," Samus said.

"And we'll be ready with our MAC gun. Nobody or nothing can penetrate Beta Outpost's defenses. That's why we're the strongest outpost in this region of space! There IS a reason why we're the only installation that hasn't been assaulted," the man said arrogantly.

"It COULD be that you aren't a main hub for housing hunters," Samus offered. 

"You know that's not it," the man said as she turned to exit the bay.

"You don't know half of what I know..." Samus thought to herself.

The inhabitants of the Beta Outpost were as naive as a child in a boarding school, and cocky to boot. Whatever was going on was like a large game of chess. The opposing force had whittled the Confederation down to their King, but had not placed a checkmate. The firing of the MAC gun may have assured the Beta Outpost another "turn", but there are other pieces out there to put it into its final check.

Just as Samus had begun to exit the bay, a tone started sounding and a voice came over the intercom system.

"All hands on deck, prepare to dock a heavily damaged small cargo vessel. Clear landing space and prepare medical crews!"

All of those in the dock began scurrying around, moving ships to the edges of the bay. A group of men and women dressed in white entered the bay, prepped with their small medical kits. Samus turned to face out of the deck.

Before long, a small cargo carrier emerged from the asteroid belt. It was steadily falling, and the back hatch of the ship was blazing with the bright orange of freshly melted metal. Before long, it finally completed its approach, skidding on the floor of the docking bay. Sparks flew as she ship turned sideways and rolled three-quarters onto its top, breaking off one wing and coming to a stop.

Without missing a beat, the medics ran toward the cockpit as the docking bay hands were cutting out an entryway to the bridge.

Something didn't fare well with Samus. It was all too convenient for a damaged Confederation cargo ship to come out of the asteroid field into which a MAC round was fired. She decided to wait until things played out.

As soon as the hole had been cut in the ship, a young woman jumped out, clutching her arm.

"You guys are NUTS! I'm a Confederation cargo ship! Why are you shooting at ME!" she screamed.

The crew was totally confused. 

"You completely destroyed my cargo! I have nothing left! What am I supposed to do now!" she exclaimed.

Everyone was still silent.

"SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING!" she yelled.

"Uh, excuse me, madam, but are you saying that you were hit by our MAC round?" the man from before asked. 

"MAC round, bullet, big FREAKING piece of metal, call it what you want! You SHOT at me!" she continued to raise her voice.

"We apologize, madam. We tried to establish communication with you..." the man started.

"My instruments were getting interference from inside the asteroid belt! I couldn't possibly have received incoming messages! What is your name?" she punctuated.

"I am Chief Operations Engineer Dan Horizon, madam," he said.

"Well, Mr. Horizon, Mr. Chief Operations Engineer, you can take me to your superiors so I can have your carcass thrown out there for shooting a Confederation cargo ship without confirming your target!" she exclaimed, pointing into space.

"Y-yes, madam," Horizon said red-faced.

Horizon took the lead as the woman followed him out of the bay. They were nearly to the door when the woman stopped next to Samus and stared at her.

She was nearly the same height as Samus, seemingly in her mid-20's.

The woman looked directly into Samus' visor. She squinted to try to see inside, but saw nothing but her own reflection in the dimmed facemask.

Unbeknownst to the woman, Samus was looking intently as well. Something was familiar about this pilot. She couldn't place it. It wasn't necessarily her eyes or nose or mouth...nothing totally in particular...but there was something about her. The thought gave Samus chills as bumps formed on her skin inside her suit.

After a moment that seemed to last for hours, the woman finally turned and continued out the door at the beckoning of Horizon. Before exiting, she shot one last glance at Samus, and Samus returned the favor. Then the door was shut.

Samus walked over to the cargo ship. The build was consistent with a Confederation vessel, but something seemed wrong. She continued around until she got to the damaged section. The MAC round had plunged into the cargo area, but it was noticeably smaller than other cargo ships Samus had seen. In addition, there were no cargo straps or any means of securing any type of box or container.

In the midst of the silvery-white metal, Samus noticed something red toward the door of the cargo hold. When she picked it up, she immediately recognized it. It was a military issue timer mine; however, this one had been tampered with. The timer chronograph had been altered to where the time could be set for over two hours.

This set off an alarm in Samus' head. There had been no infiltrator in the combines at the time of the explosions...by the time the devices detonated, the culprit was long gone, which would get hunters pointing fingers at each other.

That might explain the method of attack, but there was nothing pointing toward a motive except for the fact that they had transmitted a signal asking for Samus...and that woman...


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

HUNTER LOG 3856  
I know that woman from somewhere...I must have met her before...but there's no way she's a cargo pilot...

The people in this outpost seem all too oblivious as to what is going on around them. They don't even recognize me...which among higher staff, is usually the opposite. 

Something is going to happen here, soon. And I'd rather not stay to find out what...

Samus out...

Samus took the detonator. She couldn't afford to leave it for someone else. Besides, it might come in handy later.

"What are you doing over here?" asked a voice behind her.

"I'm just looking," Samus explained as she turned to see an armored guard.

"What is that in your hand there?" he asked Samus, pointing with his gun.

"I got it out of the ship," Samus said.

"Let me see...that's a bomb!" the man yelled.

"No, wait..." Samus tried to interrupt.

"Calling for backup! Calling for backup! This is Sullivan! I've got a hunter with an explosive device in the docking bay!" the guard screamed into his com device.

"Listen, I..." Samus tried again.

"NO! Give that to me and stay right there!" the guard said as she grabbed the bomb out of her hand.

Samus knew she could dispatch of this guard easily, but she figured she'd give him a break with all of the chaos going on.

Shortly, a horde of guards came in and detained Samus. They led her down a series of hallways and into a small cell. Once there, she simply sat down and waited on a lecture.

After a few minutes, Dan Horizon and the woman from the ship walked into the room with the device.

"A little something you forgot to tell me?" he asked.

"Not really, but you might ask your guest about that little trinket," Samus responded.

"My guest? Do you mean her?" Horizon said pointing at the woman with the bomb.

"Please, don't wave that thing at me," the woman said, leaning back.

"Hunter, who are you? What is your name?" Horizon asked.

"I am Samus Aran," Samus said.

The woman seemed to turn white.

"Samus Aran? Are you aware that there is a request out to have you detained on sight for the murder of President Marcusson and the assaults on the combines?" inquired Horizon.

"You've got to be kidding," said Samus.

"I don't believe I'm kidding. A dead president is no joke. I'm afraid we'll have to keep you here for a while," Horizon said, turning to walk away.

"Then what would you say if I told you I found that bomb in the cargo bay of her ship? The same cargo bay that isn't equipped to hold any cargo," Samus probed.

"Is this true?" Horizon asked, turning toward the woman.

"But my ship was damaged! Of course it wouldn't look right!" she pleaded.

"I can't risk having you running around with suspicion cast on you. You'll have to join Ms. Aran in the cell," Horizon said as he ordered the guards to place her inside.

"This is crazy! You're going to let a murderer tell you who is guilty and who isn't!" the woman screamed as she was tossed behind the bars. 

"I bid you adieu, ladies. Please...don't kill each other," said Horizon as he and the guards exited the room.

The woman went over to Samus and got right up by her visor.

"I HATE you! You've screwed everything up!" she yelled as her breath condensed on the facemask.

"Heh, I screwed things up? I wasn't the one who left a bomb lying around," Samus replied.

"Augh! God!" the woman exclaimed, clutching her hair with her hands.

"You really need to chill out," Samus said.

"No! You don't understand! That's not my bomb!" she yelled, then she lowered her voice, "I...I got it from the Alpha Combine..."

Samus leaned forward.

"The Alpha Combine? Tell me more," Samus prompted.

"Look, I'll make a deal with you. You get me out of here, and I'll tell you the whole story. I know you can get us out of here. That arm cannon isn't for show," the woman said.

"Before I do anything, I need you to tell me your name," Samus said.

"Lita. My name is Lita," she responded.

"Lita...ok, Lita, it's a deal. Now I'll warn you, it's very cramped in my ship," Samus said. 

"Whatever, just get us out of here," Lita said impatiently.

"Step back," Samus ordered, pulling Lita back by her jacket.

She aimed and fired ice beam shots at each of the bars, then with a sweeping roundhouse kick, she shattered them all. Samus then led the way out the door with Lita following behind.

"Do you know where you're going?" Lita yelled.

"I have an idea," Samus replied.

The two rounded a turn and blasted between two patrol guards, knocking them against the walls. As they ran, they heard one of the guards call for security, resulting in alarms and strobing red lights. 

Surprisingly, the two reached the docking bay doors without encountering any guards, but when they entered, they learned why. 

Legions of guards stood surrounding the cargo ship.

Inside her helmet, Samus cocked her head. Why would they guard the broken down ship and not her ship? This would make for a much easier escape. 

"Hey, run toward that ship three down to the right of yours," Samus whispered to Lita.

"That? Isn't that a GPX9860J custom model?" asked Lita.

"Yeah, why?" Samus asked, puzzled.

"Oh nothing, my...uuh...my friend had one. It was nice," Lita said.

Samus tried to make sense out of the conversation, but quickly gave up. The two dashed toward Samus' ship. At first, the guards hesitated, not expecting the two to attempt an escape, but after a moment, they opened fire on the escapees.

"Holy crap! You don't do this all the time, do you?" Lita screamed as she ran.

"You know what they say about old habits," Samus said back.

"Well I don't plan on dying today!" Lita yelled back as she jumped on top of Samus' ship.

Shocked, Samus skidded to a stop. She'd never seen anyone else do that. A shot to the back returned Samus to her surroundings. She quickly followed Lita and boarded the ship. 

"This is awesome...it's just like...my friend's ship, except newer," Lita remarked.

"Nice to hear, but you might want to buckle in, it doesn't always fly as smooth as it looks," Samus replied.

"I resent that, ma'am," 

"Sorry, Grady. I was just kidding. How about we get out of here?" Samus suggested.

"Where to, ma'am? 

"I say we go to Orpheus," Lita recommended. 

"Orpheus? The asteroid base? No thanks, that's bad food," Samus said.

"Why not? There's plenty of old equipment there. I'd be able to whip up a few things, and we'd be able to use it as a makeshift base," Lita reasoned.

"There is a bit of a problem. There's a hole in the side. When it was blasted open, all of the oxygen escaped. It wouldn't be functional," Samus rebutted.

"No! I'm totally familiar with the operations of Orpheus. I've studied it extensively. I can get the generators up and running, and there should be enough oxygen in the reserves deep in the center of the asteroid. That is, unless you plan on making it a permanent installation, then I'd have to build a CO2 converter to give us a sustained supply," Lita explained. 

Samus removed her helmet, revealing a dumbfounded face with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Lita asked.

"Ahem! Ladies, I'd like to remind you that we're still under fire outside. Would you like to pick a destination? 

"Sorry, Grady. I guess we're headed for Orpheus," Samus relented.

"Course set for Orpheus Asteroid Station, proceeding... "

Samus' ship started moving toward the exit of the docking bay. By this point, the guards had exhausted their gun ammo and commanding officers began barking orders.

"Ready the MAC!" rang from the crowd of guards.

An engineer from the catwalks answered.

"It can't be fired yet! It's too soon! It's still cooling down from the last shot!"

"Don't disobey me! Ready the gun NOW!" the commanded yelled.

The ship left the bay and entered the asteroid field.

In the stern viewing screen, Samus and Lita watched the MAC gun illuminate from inside the barrel. The light started as green, then turned to yellow, then a bright orange. Suddenly the barrel bulged and shuddered.

Pieces of the outpost drifted into space as the MAC gun barrel shot forward from the station, leaving a gaping hole in the side. Strangling bodies floated freely in the vacuum behind the large cylinder.

"They tried to fire it too soon. The shell melted and stuck inside the barrel. The force was so great that it pulled it out of the outpost like a splinter out of a finger..." Lita said in wonder.

It had to be a return to Orpheus. The feeling of that place was that of an abandoned asylum. Walls that once encased intense activity sat undisturbed for decades. Samus wasn't there long enough last time to really explore, but she was sure that the inner passageways of the station were even drearier than the outer corridors had been.

Enter: Samus...bounty hunter...fugitive of the Confederation


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

HUNTER LOG 3857  
Wonderful. They think I killed Marcusson. On top of that, I've invited the bomber into my ship and I'm taking her to Orpheus. It seems like an invitation to be led in to slaughter. But when have I ever been known to refuse an invitation like that?

There is still something about Lita that seems to be beyond my comprehension. I still can't place it, and it's going to bother me until I find out what it is...

Samus out...   
"Ma'am, I'm picking up strange readings from the site of the Alpha Combine," 

"Define strange, Grady," Samus said.

"Not overly human, ma'am. None of the ships are from the Confederation, and all seem to be running off of a power source unknown to my scanners," 

"Not overly human? Does that mean you are picking up human readings?"

"One, but it seems faint. Do you want to keep the course for Orpheus?" 

"Keep course, and run under cover. I want to see them without them seeing us," Samus said.

"Affirmative. Initiating cloaking system," 

"You have a cloaking device on this thing?" Lita asked.

"A personal touch. It comes in handy," Samus answered.

Before long, the remains of the combine came into sight. Three massive flagships surrounded the station in a triangular pattern. The stern MAC guns of each ship extended, glistening in the light of the stars. At first glance, Samus thought the MAC guns were engines. The design was one she had never seen before. Three MAC barrels were clustered together. The combination of the three would equalize the firing time allowing for at least one cannon to always be ready.

"That is an ingenious design, three MAC guns..." Samus trailed.

"Actually, there is a flaw. Think about it. With the guns in close proximity to each other, the heat generated by one will transfer to both of the other cannons. The chances of all three being fired completely and accurately in one round are very slim," Lita explained. 

"That's interesting..." said Samus as they moved past the installation.

"Approaching the Orpheus base, ma'am," 

"Take us in easy, Grady. Let's see if we can find another docking point around the one we used last time," Samus said.

The ship swooped in and passed the hole that was blown in the decks.

"There," Samus pointed.

Grady took the ship in and docked to a port directly below the previously visited deck.

"Put this on, just in case," Samus told Lita, handing her a compression helmet and suit.

"Yeah...just in case," Lita acknowledged as she donned the equipment.

"Or you could suffocate in the vacuum of space," Samus chuckled.

"That would suck..." Lita cracked back.

Samus and Lita exited the ship onto a loading deck. Large metal containers lined the walls of the dimly lit room. The two ventured into the blue-grey shadows to search the room.

"Now you said you knew how to turn the lights on in here, right?" Samus asked.

"In theory," Lita replied.

Samus stopped and stared at Lita. 

"WHAT? It's not like I've actually been here before," Lita blurted with her hands on her hips.

Samus shook her head and continued on. All of the containers looked to be sealed shut, and upon closer inspection, there seemed to be no exit. Samus knew there had to be a way out.

"This room looks too perfect," Lita remarked.

"What do you mean?" Samus asked. 

"This station was abandoned in disarray. Everyone was in a hurry to get out of here when the virus got out of control, do you really think anything would have been left in such pristine condition? I don't think so. There's something weird about these containers," Lita explained as she walked around, knocking on the metal boxes.

Lita progressed around the room, hearing the same uniform clang! clang! from each box, until she got to the back wall. A few boxes over, she received a thud! thud! . 

"It's this box," she announced, "We've gotta move it,"

"I'll take care of it," Samus said, aiming her arm cannon at the box.

Lita ran behind Samus as the front face of the container exploded into shards around them. 

"That was high quality stuff. My blast would normally carry all the way through...and look, there's a door inside the box," Samus said as she rubbed the blown edge with her hand.

"If I'm correct, this door should lead us into the maintenance deck," Lita said.

"You sure seem to know a lot about this place," Samus remarked.

"I promise, I've studied it up for years," Lita said defensively.

Samus simply turned and opened the door. Stale air and dust rushed out. Samus smelled it through her ventilator. It was dirty and moist...and something else...

"Listen, things will go a little faster if I go on ahead. I'll get the lights on here in a few, so wait up on me here," Lita said as she ran off into the dark room.

"Wait, Lita," Samus said as she grasped for Lina's arm.

All she heard were fading footsteps in the darkness...and she was alone again. Of all the bells and whistles her suit had, Samus didn't have a flashlight. She had to rely on instinct in this chamber.

She proceeded cautiously with one hand stretched out in front of her. After a few steps, her hand rested gently on a surface. It was curved, cylindrical...about the width of her shoulders. She tapped on it. clang! clang! Metal.

Samus turned a quarter turn to her right and began forward again. This time, she was halted at her waist. She bumped into an object. Her hand fell slowly trying to find the top of the surface. It was flat. Maybe some kind of a table. She ran her hand to the side slowly and brushed against a few items. One jolted as Samus drew her hand back. The item swirled on the table and settled back on its base. That was a glass container...

Maintenance deck?

Samus reached directly to her left. Another cylindrical object. plink! plink! Glass. Samus turned toward it.

Suddenly, there were a few strobes, then intense light. Samus squinted, trying to adjust, then looked in front of her. She jolted backwards, tripping over a rolling chair and collapsing to the floor with her arm cannon aimed back in front of her.

"Saaaaamus! I got the power running! I...what are you doing?" Lita yelled, running back into the room.

Samus still lie on the floor, breathing hard, aiming at the containment vessel in front of her.

"Come ON, Samus. It's just a Geemer," Lita said nonchalantly.

"It's not supposed to be there," Samus said.

"Not totally. Remember that working culture of the virus that was studied? It came from a Geemer, not a human. The infectious reactions occurred too quickly in humans for scientists to harvest a working sample, but once they discovered Geemers on the nearby SR-390 dying off slowly, they brought a few back to study. From the first Geemer, they harvested the most complete culture of the virus, unfortunately, after tainting the Geemer DNA, the virus became airborne...which resulted in the demise of the Asteroid Base at Orpheus," Lita explained.

"Studied it for years..." Samus uttered under her breath.

"By the time they could get a good sample, it was too late. Still, the strange thing was the fact that the virus was unable to be traced in infected human specimen...it's like it disappeared," Lita scrunched her brow.

Samus got up.

"Since you know so much about this place, do you know if it has a way to listen to com waves?" Samus asked. 

"There should be. I think I remember finding a wavelength interceptor back when the Galactic Federation...uuhhh..." Lita stuttered and turned around.

"What about the Galactic Federation?" Samus asked.

"The interceptor is over here. I'll see if it still works," Lita said as she rushed to the back of the room.

Samus stood confused. Lita wasn't making sense with all of her ramblings. It's impossible that she would know so much about Orpheus at the age she was. Even though she was scarcely younger than Samus, there was no possible way. As far as Samus knew, information as detailed as what Lita knew had died with the scientists after the epidemic.

"Hey Samus, check this out! It's a systemwide broadcast, some political hoo-ha," Lita announced.

...we grieve the loss of President Marcusson. May he rest in peace.  
As the lawmaking body of the Confederation, we feel that it is best to allow it to die along with our leader. By a unanimous vote, we have determined that it would be best if another federation were formed to replace the one that existed before President Marcusson's tenure. May I announce to you the reemergence of the Galactic Federation!

Thunderous applause erupted from the crowd in attendance.

"Wow, sounds like a big deal," Lita said with very little interest.

"It might be even bigger than that. I'm not sure what's going on, but things are getting a little strange, even for my taste," Samus said. 

Suddenly the two felt a vibration. The waves knocked a beaker from the table. The glass shards skimmed across the floor toward Samus and Lita. They watched as the pieces bounced on the floor, then settled as the vibration's effects were no longer felt.

"What was that?" Lita asked.

"Someone is here...and I'll bet they just knocked," Samus said, readying her arm cannon. 

Samus took off in the direction Lita had gone to reach the power.

"Hey, wait! Don't leave me here!" Lita screamed.

"Stay there! You didn't mind being alone earlier!" Samus yelled back.

Samus passed through corridor upon corridor as she ran through. Each corridor was about fifty yards in length, with opening chambers between each section. It became painfully evident to Samus that Lita was very wrong about this being the maintenance deck when she approached the last chamber before a door. Samus skidded to a halt.

Deja vu wouldn't quite be the term to describe what stood in front of Samus. 

http/www.retrogaming.it/snes/SMetroid2.jpg 

It looked like the actual containment unit from the Ceres station. Identical in every way, especially the broken glass. Why was this here?

"Aww crap!" Lita said after she had caught up with Samus.

"You're going to explain this after I get back. Now stay here, I mean it," Samus said with a hint of anger.

She proceeded through the door and up the stairs inside. When she rounded the landing, she heard something and stopped. A slight hissing noise could he heard from the top of the stairs.

Samus ascended cautiously with her cannon aimed in front of her. When she topped the stairs, she saw a single entity. 

It was humanoid, but definitely not human. Its 'skin' was entirely black, and looked smooth to the point of a shiny quality. Its posture was a bit slumped, but it still easily stood six and a half feet tall. Its eyes were a glassy yellow, but still had a human structure with an obvious iris and a rounded pupil. It had fleshy projections from its head that fell from its skull ranging in lengths from just below its jawbone to halfway down its torso.

Samus froze.

The two simply traded looks for what seemed like minutes.

Suddenly the creature opened its mouth and wrought a blood curdling roar. Its teeth were bestial fangs, seemingly able to rip even the toughest flesh.

Samus wasted no time opening fire. She shot an energy beam directly at the creature, but with catlike agility it dodged and rebounded off the wall. It rolled on the floor, then dove at Samus with outstretched claws. Samus sidestepped and dropped an elbow on the creature. As it fell to the floor, it slashed as Samus' side.

The screeching noise resounded inside Samus' helmet, causing her to squint.

As soon as the beast hit the floor, it swiveled and knocked Samus to the floor. It then jumped on top of her and tried to slash at her head. Samus caught the claw with her hand and blocked the other arm with her cannon. The two struggled for a bit until Samus rolled up and grabbed the monster's head with her feet. She slung it backwards and rolled up off of the ground.

By the time Samus had reached her feet, the creature had done the same. This time the beast screeched loudly, then dove at Samus again. Just as it was reaching Samus, it was knocked out of the air by a blast.

When Samus turned her head, she saw Lita standing at the top of the stairs with a smoking laser pistol.

"We've got to get out of here!" Lita yelled.

Samus nodded, but her attention quickly shifted to the hallway, where a platoon of the shadowy creatures rounded the corner. Something was wrong about one of them...its posture was different...it just didn't feel the same...what...who could that be? Was it human?

"Come ON! I've got the ship ready!" Lita screamed.

Samus snapped back to reality. She backpedaled and turned around running.

Surprisingly, Lita could keep up with Samus. Not many normal humans could accomplish that task...and how did she know how to operate her ship?

They flew down the corridors and back into the bay. As they reentered the ship, Samus barked orders.

"Grady, disengage the docking system. Ready defense systems. Get us out of here NOW!" Samus yelled. 

"Aye, ma'am. Calm down, please," 

As the ship was pulling away from Orpheus, the creatures reached the bay. One of them dashed and jumped toward the ship. The autoguns came alive and peppered the creature with high velocity rounds. The monster absorbed a few of the shots, but soon succumbed to the flurry of bullets. Ripped flesh and discolored blood drifted outside the docking bay.

Most of the remaining beasts let forth a primal howl for their fallen comrade, but one simply stood and stared at the departing ship.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

HUNTER LOG 3858  
Those beasts didn't seem like beasts at all. Something about them was different from any monster she had encountered, even the space pirates. There was something more to their bestial appearance. They couldn't have been in the station previously...unless there was another secret to the facility. I'm still skeptical as to how Lita gained her knowledge of the Orpheus station. There is no literature available that is as detailed as the knowledge she has of the facility...

Samus out.   
"Okay, spill it," Samus said to Lita.

"Spill what? I'm not about to confess to something you don't know about yet," Lita rebutted.

"All of it, tell me," Samus ordered.

"Well, as you may have guessed, the Orpheus installation was more that a simple research facility. All kinds of stuff went down there. There was the testing on the virus, aptly named Orpheus, but there were also many other tests. To the public, the facility was strictly known as a scientific research habitat for struggling researchers, but in reality, it was a testing facility for the military. Besides the virus, which was going to be used for biological warfare, the station also harbored a few metroids. At the time of the release of the virus, the higher-ups in the military had been pressuring the scientists to develop equipment and weaponry derived from the powers of the metroids. In the end, the scientists rebelled and..." Lita explained.

"They released the virus. They didn't want their work used for the destruction of anyone, human or beast. They were very virtuous in dying to uphold their beliefs..." Samus remarked.

"And the military, in league with the government, denied them public status as martyrs in return. How's that for benevolent?" said Lita.

"That's an interesting story, and very moving, but it still doesn't tell me what I'm need to know. How do you know all of this?" Samus probed.

"I told you, I studied..." started Lita.

"No, I don't buy that. There's no source of literature or otherwise that you could have accessed to obtain that kind of information. There's more to you than just brains. What kind of athletics did you do at the academy?" asked Samus. 

"Athletics? You mean sports, well I didn't really...I didn't think I..." Lita stuttered.

"Come on! You kept up with me! I'm not a normal human. I..." Samus started. 

"You're infused with Chozo blood, I know," Lita interrupted.

"If you know that, then you know what I'm asking," Samus said.

"I have Chozo blood, too," Lita said with her head down.

"You...how?" Samus responded in shock.

"It's a long story. This is not the time for it. We've got to figure out what's going on, and trust me, I should be the least of your worries," Lita said, lifting her head.

"Ma'am? We're being followed," 

"Followed? Isn't the cloaking engaged?" Samus asked.

"Yes, ma'am, but they're still managing to follow us, somehow," 

"Who is following us?" Samus inquired.

"It's one of the battleships from around the Alpha Combine...it's coming out from behind Orpheus! " 

"What kind of readings are you picking up, Grady?" Samus asked.

"That's strange. I'm picking up all kinds of human activity now...on all of the ships," 

"That IS strange...why now and not earlier..." Samus asked herself out loud.

"This wasn't supposed to happen...I got there too late..." Lita said.

"What are you talking about?" Samus asked Lita.

"Nothing, nothing. It just wasn't supposed to happen this way. If I had finished that monster, then the rest wouldn't be after us," said Lita, slamming her hand down on a console.

"Hey, easy on the equipment. It's nothing we haven't encountered before. Taking on alien flagships is what we do," Samus said wryly.

"Well you're not going to outrun that thing, so what are we going to do?" Lita asked.

"Who says we can't outrun them? Grady, ready the warp drive, and while you're at it, aim us into the Chi sector," Samus ordered. 

"The Chi sector, ma'am?" 

"I'm with him, the Chi sector? There isn't anything there? What the heck are we going to do there?" Lita asked.

"Trust me," Samus said, bracing for the change in speed.

Lita was thrown back in her seat as the ship slammed into hyperspace. In the reverse viewscreen, Samus noticed a small flash, then the flagship appear on their flank. She had expected this. Several points on the bow of the flagship began to glow green. She had expected this as well.

The flagship attempted to fire its forward plasma cannons. The pulses screamed forward toward Samus' ship, but midway to their destination, they seemed to stall out. In reality, the blasts didn't stall, they simply weren't traveling at a high enough rate of speed to overtake Samus' vessel. In less than a second, the plasma slipped backward and into their origins, exploding on the front of the flagship.

"Heh, very nice..." Samus chuckled, "Grady, what bodies are going to appear at our destination in the Chi sector?"

"I'm not sure, in my database, I show a lava planet, but on my scanners, I pick something up that has temperatures vastly lower than the coldest comet on record," 

"I was counting on that. Take us down on that planet, geographic coordinates 93 degrees, 10 minutes, 33 seconds latitude, 36 degrees, 7 minutes, 12 seconds longitude," Samus said.

"Plotted, arrival in two minutes," 

"Eh! You been here before?" Lita asked.

"You have your secrets, I have mine, but no, I haven't exactly been here before," Samus said, turning to Lita.

"Haven't exactly been here? What, have you been here 'in spirit' or something? Come on, how do you know the coordinates?" Lita asked, complete with air quotes.

"Know the coordinates of what?" Samus asked immediately.

"The b...HEY!" Lita started.

"You know, too, don't you?" Samus theorized.

"Well...well everybody knows about the base on Lavalos-3..." Lita tried to rationalize. 

"Yeah, everybody that was involved in the raid on LC-269," Samus said sternly, staring Lita directly in her pupils.

"I've been there and searched the base. I harvested info from deep inside the lair, and it was quite historic. They had designed a grid..." Lita started.

"I know. I was in the raid," Samus said.

"Then you...you worked with Commander Adam Malkovich?" Lita exclaimed.

"Yeah, you could say that..." Samus trailed.

"Tell me, what was he like? Was he as brave and as skilled as all of the books and reports say?" Lita asked with a giddy tone.

"Don't let the reports fool you. There will never be a man greater than Adam Malkovich. I owe him my life...a debt I can never repay," Samus said, bowing her head.

"I see..." Lita said, respecting Samus' feelings, "so he's why you do what you do?" 

"Not totally...I have...other reasons," Samus said. 

"Approaching Lavalos-3, otherwise known as LC-270, directing for coordinates, ma'am," 

"Take us in. Flash the distress beacon three times, then shut it off. They'll know who's coming," Samus ordered.

Grady guided the ship into the blizzard-like conditions of the planet. The beacon pulsed through the airwaves exactly three times, then paused. Within seconds, lights erupted from beneath them and landing pad lights illuminated the destination. The ship shuddered for a moment, then went silent. 

Samus and Lita quickly dashed toward the only visible door as it opened revealing a well-lit interior.

"Hurry up! Get in here!" yelled a man tending to the entrance.

"Oh my GOD, I didn't think it could get that cold!" Lita said in a raised voice.

"I thought you said you had been to LC-269," Samus started.

"Not when the grid was up, geez, it was a heck of a lot warmer than this," Lita popped off. 

"Well, well, if it isn't Samus Aran, the little understudy of Commander Adam Malkovich," a man said from down the hall.

Samus' head raised, "Anybody but Alan..." 

"Sometimes I wonder why he didn't just let you go off and kill yourself," Alan said, standing easily a head over Samus.

"I get it, Alan..." Samus said, proceeding past him.

Alan reached out and grabbed Samus' arm.

"No, I don't think you do. Because of you, we lost our commanding officer, the best dn commanding officer the Federation ever had, and what do you do to show your gratitude for his sacrifice? You quit the forces and register as some freelance bounty hunter! You're just some aimless rogue running around doing whatever for the highest bidder! Where's your allegiance to the Federation? Where's your pride? Where's your sense of responsibility? Why aren't you honoring Commander Malkovich's memory!" Alan yelled.

Samus threw off Alan's hand.

"You have NO IDEA of the burdens I carry! Who are you to say I have no pride and no sense of responsibility? Adam went above and beyond what was expected of him, and he deliberately disobeyed direct orders to stick to the mission. Adam saved the Federation because he chose to help me...I and I alone bear the burden of his death, you have no business trying to make me feel any worse," Samus rebutted.

Alan pushed Samus against a wall.

"You arrogant little bh! Listen to yourself! Saying that you're the reason the Commander became a hero! And what makes you think that you're the only one that can bear the burden of his death? He was our C.O., too! Our loss was just as great, if not greater than yours. You had no regard for anyone's life, even your own! Why should you even care?" Alan retorted. 

Samus sent her knee into Alan's crotch, sending him crumpling to the ground.

"He died at my cost, and I will be paying that penance until the day I leave this place. My responsibility is to do what he would have wanted. My pride isn't in the ornamental decoration of the armed forces. I don't desire rank or appreciation for what I do; I simply do it because it's right. You might try that the next time you sit idly by while someone else rushes to the beckoning of the Federation," Samus said as she continued down the hall.

"Uhghhhgh, I'm...guh...I'm not done with you, Samus!" Alan coughed.

Samus and Lita entered a room down the corridor. It had two beds, a closet, and a bathroom.

"So we plan on staying a while?" Lita asked.

"Just long enough to rest," Samus said abruptly.

"Who was that guy?" Lita inquired.

"He was in my unit with Adam..." Samus turned away.

"So Commander Malkovich..." Lita started.

"I'd rather not discuss that," Samus entered the bathroom and locked the door.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

HUNTER LOG 3859  
I wish it had not come to this. Out of all the places I had to seek refuge, it had to be here...with them. All of the memories came flooding back in a barrage of resentment courtesy of Alan. Now HE is the definition of a soldier. He lives his life as a pawn of the government, and because of that, he's stuck here on this god-forsaken chunk of ice. That's his reward for being loyal to his precious military. A commanding position over snow and ice and a handful of troops. Even if I told him that Adam wanted me to be a bounty hunter, he wouldn't believe me. If I were him, I wouldn't want to either.

Samus out...   
"Ah, so you've decided to come out? Excellent, I've been needing to 'go' for quite a while!" Lita said.

"Help yourself," Samus replied, "but don't take too long, I want to get out of here at the first chance we get."

Lita yelled through the bathroom door.

"Do you hate them that badly?"

"I don't hate them..." Samus returned.

"But they aren't too keen on you," Lita said back.

"Well, when everyone sees that you and your commanding officer go in, and only you come out, then become a bounty hunter..." Samus stopped.

"I see," Lita said over a flush.

"Are you set to leave?" Samus asked.

"Close enough, but do we know that it's safe to leave?" Lita asked.

"That's what we're about to find out," Samus said, walking out of the room.

As soon as she broke into the hallway, she halted.

"I've been waiting for you, Samus," Alan said.

"I'm honored," Samus said smugly.

"I should have you tossed in a cell for that stunt earlier, what would you think about that?" Alan asked, leaning over Samus.

"Personally, I think you'd be asking for seconds, but then again, it doesn't really matter what I think, does it?" Samus snapped back.

"Not really. Not when I'm the one in command here," Alan remarked.

"Oh, not when you're in command, eh? So I should be kissing your feet and thanking you for your benevolence for not tossing I disagree in a cell and letting me rot? Oh, thank you, thank you, oh merciful commander. Let me be your anodyne reinforcement and remind you at every waking moment that everything will be okay while I rub your shoulders," Samus sparked.

"You ungrateful bag...if you spent half of your time being loyal and faithful as you do on your verbal ripostes, then you might have made something of yourself under the commander," Alan retorted.

"You know nothing of loyalty and faithfulness. While you believe I'm disgracing Adam's memory, I believe I am not. I don't think there's anything that's going to change that," Samus scathed.

"No, I don't believe there is. I will hate you until the day I die, Samus," Alan said, full of undistinguishable emotion.

"I can live with that. Now, can you move so I can check on my departure clearance?" Samus responded.

"There's no need. Airspace has been locked due to an unidentified starship just outside orbit. Nobody's going anywhere as long as that thing is up there," Alan said.

"What kind of ship is it?" Samus asked. 

"It looks like a modified Federation flagship. I've never seen anything like it. It looks like it's sustained some damage to its front, but other than that, it looks to have all destructive forces available," Alan explained.

Samus turned away and swore under her breath. She knew the ship would follow them, but she didn't know it would arrive so soon.

"So it's here?" Lita chimed in.

Alan stepped forward.

"Wait, you knew about this!" Adam erupted, "You led this ship here? Are you nuts! This is a top secret installation! How could you bring them here?"

"Look, we tried to get away..." Lita started, but was interrupted by Samus' arm.

"We attempted an escape from their pursuit. They were able to track us even though we were cloaked, so we managed to get them to fire their forward weapons while in hyperspace. That is why there is damage on the front of the ship. That ship might be tough, but its crew isn't entirely the brightest bunch of stars..." Samus said.

Lights suddenly began flashing in the hallway, and a tone sounded through the speakers.

"Alan, wherever you are, get to the control room NOW!" said a voice.

Alan traded a look with Samus and took off down the hall.

"Come on," Samus said to Lita as she gave chase to Alan.

They zoomed through corridors and open rooms full of lounging soldiers until they reached an expansive room with monitors and control consoles everywhere. When Samus and Lita reached the room, they saw Alan already engaged in a discussion with a woman.

"This was the video taken a few moments ago," the woman said pointing at a monitor.

The footage displayed the flagship firing a MAC round into a satellite. 

"Oh God..." Alan said in response.

"That was one of the climate satellites..." Samus started.

"So you're saying that it's about to get warmer around here?" Lita asked.

"You have no idea, little girl. Those satellites are the only things making this place inhabitable! This was originally a big molten mess, but those satellites solidified and froze all of the active lava. Without those satellites, we'll be sitting on a big fireball," Alan explained.

"First of all, I'm NOT a little girl, and second..."

"Not now, Lita," Samus interrupted, "this is not the time and place for this. They know we're here, and they're willing to take down the entire planet to get us, so we might as well take the fight to them."

"Well if that's your plan, then I suppose we need to find a way to get you out of here," Alan said. 

"It's too late..." the woman said, "dropships are on approach! We didn't even pick them up on the scanners until a moment ago! Prepare for intruders!"

Alan turned to Samus.

"Look, get your crap together and get to your ship. We need to get you out of here," Alan ordered.

"But what about you? You aren't just going to stay here and burn?" Samus asked with a hint of a flashback.

"This is our home, Samus. Nobody's going to make us leave! Now go!" Alan said.

"Alan...okay...but you won't be alone..." Samus said as she turned.

Just as Samus and Lita reached the control room exit, an explosion rocked the opposite side. Through the hole sprang a battalion of the black creatures from Orpheus. Guns blazed and plasma bursts flew through the room.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Alan shouted over his shots.

Samus let a tear roll down her cheek inside her helmet, then left the control room. 

She and Lita dashed through the hallways to get to the landing pad. The hallways were deserted. Whereas the feeling before was that of order, the aura was now that of suspicion.

"They didn't order an evacuation, did they?" Lita asked.

"You're catching on. No, there was no evacuation order that I heard," Samus responded.

"So we're probably not going to have a quiet exit?" Lita asked again.

"I doubt it," Samus said as she halted.

"This way, ma'am," a soldier said from down the hall, "your ship is ready." 

Samus figured that this was the "something wrong" she'd anticipated. The soldier was bandaged on his side, and had a pack on his back that was not standard issue.

"What's your injury, soldier?" Samus asked.

"Aww, caught a plasma pistol shot in the side. I was lucky I had armor on, or it would have burned right through me!" said the soldier. 

"Understood. Very good, soldier. Carry on," Samus said officially as she and Lita walked past.

As soon as the two passed him, Samus twirled around and aimed her arm cannon...where the soldier should have been...

"Where did he go?" Lita asked.

"Get that plasma pistol ready," Samus responded.

In an instant, Samus was tackled from behind. She skidded across the floor with her assailant on her back.

"It's one of those THINGS!" Lita yelled as she fired a shot at the beast.

It anticipated the blast and did a back somersault over it. After it landed, the monster turned toward Lita and dove at her.

She fell to the ground and shielded herself with her arm.

"Not on my watch!" Samus said as she intercepted the beast with an elbow to the jaw.

The beast recoiled and slashed at Samus, who dodged backward. Before she could react again, the creature had leapt upon Samus, wrapping its legs around her abdomen and its arms around her torso.

She fell to the floor from the sudden addition of weight as the being began to squeeze the life out of her.

Lita fired blasts, but the creature simply absorbed them into its back, screaming. The impact of the shots actually made the beast squeeze more intensely.

"NO! Lita! Stop shooting!" Samus yelled as she began to see dizzy spots in her vision.

Samus looked down and saw the wound on the creature's side. That was her only chance.

She shimmied an arm free and dug her fingers into the open flesh. The beast howled in agony as it released its hold on Samus. It staggered backwards, clutching its side and covering its face. After moments the primal roars died down to more of a human tone. The animal reached a hand towards its back and pressed something. The reaction that followed baffled Samus and Lita.

Its stature lessened and its color changed to a peach colored flesh tone. The extensions on its head shrunk and sprouted into locks of hair. Its fangs flattened and formed human incisors and molars. The creature became the soldier from before, except for this time, he was coughing blood profusely into a puddle in the floor.

"You...will...die..." the soldier coughed as he forced his last words through his bloody teeth.

"Uh, Samus..." Lita said, pointing.

Samus turned to see three more beasts, simply standing in the hallway a few feet away. The one in the center, the largest of the three, was the silent one from Orpheus. Samus immediately recognized it. Its eyes were a deeper color than the rest, and it was larger in size.

It threw a man's body on the floor at Samus' feet.

"I believe this belongs to you..." the beast said.

"Alan..." Samus muttered.

"Shut up...Samus...that's all...I...need is your pity..." Adam choked.

He looked up at Samus with claw marks across his face before passing out.

"What do you want?" Samus asked the creature.

"Freedom. I want freedom," the monster replied.

"Who...what are you?" Samus inquired.

"Maybe I should show you..." the beast responded as it reached over its shoulder.

Within moments, its stature had lessened like the soldier before, but this time, it revealed a different visage.

"No..." is all Samus could manage.

"Samus, you look like you've seen a ghost. Whatever could be the problem? I mean, imagine MY surprise seeing you after the combine was ripping apart," the man said.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," said Lita from behind Samus.

Samus briefly glanced back, then looked directly at the man in front of her...the former President of the Confederation.

"Marcusson...you bastard...why?" Samus asked.

"Like I said before, for freedom! Sure, I had a lot of power and sway as the President, but still, I was restricted by the shackles of politics and ethics. I could do a lot as the President, but I can do more as one of THESE!" Marcusson said as he motioned to the beasts standing next to him. 

"What ARE those, what have you become?" Samus replied.

"These are nothing but my personal militants equipped with zoomorphic units derived from metroid genetic matter," Marcusson responded with a smirk.

"The fall of Orpheus...it was YOU..." Lita said.

"Quite an astute young lady you have with you, Samus. Who is she? An understudy perhaps? I didn't peg you to be the teaching type, I figured you're more of a loner," Marcusson bit back.

"I don't take on students...but while we're at the question game, what is she talking about?" Samus probed.

"You should know the history well enough. During the research of the virus at Orpheus, the samples were released, infecting the entire installation. This came after the head researchers refused to use their knowledge of the metroids for military technology. During the next few weeks, the department of defense and I coerced some of the lower scientists to defect. Those scientists helped set up the release of the virus and the stealing of the metroid data and samples. From that, we conducted our own experiments and developed this kind of technology. It increases the senses and physical abilities of any normal human being. The side effect is the bestial appearance, but other than that, it's a boon to anyone who uses it. The powers that be didn't agree with the use of the technology when I wanted to implement it in the military, so I used what influence I DID have to make my 'escape' from the government, and here I stand today, a free man," Marcusson explained.

"And I had you figured for a shallow man..." Samus snapped, "I assume you aren't going to let us leave."

"You're quite right, and I..." Marcusson started.

"Not while...I'm in command..." Alan struggled as he raised two old sawed-off shotguns and blasted the beasts in their torsos.

The two creatures flopped onto the floor lifeless as Marcusson took several steps back.

"Kinda evens up the odds. Now let's play nice," Samus said.

"I'll let you play, but I'll have my leave from this doomed planet. Have fun, Samus," Marcusson said as he tossed a flash grenade to the floor.

By the time Samus had regained her sight, Marcusson was gone.

"Alan, we've got to get out of here. You know he's going to melt the whole place," Samus said.

"No...I'm not going anywhere. If my men fight to protect this place and die, that's what I'm going to do, too," Alan said.

"You can't do that, Alan. This place is going to go up in flames. There will be nothing left, and I won't let a soldier like you die like that in a place like this," Samus replied.

"Who are you to decide what I do? What gives you the right to decide my cough fate? This is my place to die, Samus, and you're not going to steal me from it!" Alan yelled.

"Dn it, Alan!" Samus screamed.

She knew this situation. She'd been here before. It was the same with Adam. The fierce emotions that raged inside her were almost too much to bear. Adam was the hero, the respected commander. He held rank over Samus and should have been the one to survive the meltdown, but he shed his protocol and forced Samus to go. He forced her to live in a life where she was looked down upon because of the way his sacrifice looked. She was portrayed as selfish and disobedient, especially after respecting Adam's wish of becoming a bounty hunter.

He was honored as a hero, and she carried the stigma as a deserter. She didn't want that to happen again.

"I'm not about to be labeled as a deserter again, Alan! I'm taking you with me," Samus said as she reached for Alan's arms.

"You'll keep your distance, Samus," Alan replied as he aimed a shotgun at her head, "you're going to turn around and leave me here, cough just like I told you before."

"If I'm leaving you, I'm going to leave you with the truth. I didn't desert Adam. The escape pod had a malfunction and could only be ejected remotely. He ordered me aboard the pod and released it. He pulled rank to be the one to stay behind. I just wanted you to know that I left upon his order," Samus explained.

"But he...but what about becoming a bounty hunter, cough why?" Alan asked confused.

"That was his last request. He couldn't see me in a restricted military for the rest of my life. I'm no soldier," Samus said.

"You've got that right. I wouldn't have you in my company. cough I don't like competition in my ranks," Alan struggled.

"What? Alan, you know you were the better soldier," Samus began.

"I may have been the better soldier, cough but you were the favorite. You were better at everything else. People like me, we just couldn't compete cough with the likes of you," Alan interrupted, "now go, get out of here."

"Do you still hate me?" Samus asked.

"I don't like you, Samus. I don't like you because you won't freaking listen... cough Now get the hell out of here!" Alan fell over.

Samus stepped back as Lita took her arm and pulled her.

Finally resigning, Samus turned and fled.

Outside, lava had already consumed half of the landing area.

Lita quickly hopped on top of the ship and entered it. Samus hopped on top and turned to look down to the bottom of the stairs, hoping she'd see Alan walking out to catch up.

Lita tugged on Samus and pulled her inside as the hatch closed.

"Grady, take us into the orbit over SR-388," Lita said.

Samus sat silent.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

HUNTER LOG 3860

I did it again...I left someone behind. No matter how hard I try, I can't save those that I truly wish to save... All of this power, but it's useless... Why should I fight and win when the casualties are so costly?

I wish I could have at least saved Alan...

Samus out...

"It's not the end of the world, you know," Lita said.

"What?" Samus asked in astoundment.

"He wanted to stay behind. You let him have his last wish. It's not the end of the world. People die every day," Lita continued.

"People die every day, but how many of those can be saved?" Samus asked rhetorically.

"That's beside the point, Samus. There's a difference between permitting someone to die and letting them die. He felt it was his time to go, so we allowed him his right to die," Lita explained.

"He had no right to do that..." Samus trailed off.

"So you're saying that if you get to the point where you've resigned yourself to death, then that isn't your right to choose?" Lita asked.

"He could have made it out! Just like Adam!" Samus burst out, then stopped herself, shocked.

"You still resent him for making you leave, don't you?" Lita probed.

"Yeah, I...I guess I...wait...how do you know about that?" Samus noticed.

"I asked you about it before," Lita returned.

"Are you sure?" Samus asked confused.

"Absolutely. Now look, he let you go because he believed that you could make a difference, more so than himself. He died so that you could live! He gave you the greatest gift you could ever receive!" Lita said.

"But he sent me back out into a world that hated me for leaving him behind! He requested that I become a bounty hunter, but after the incident, I had no choice. Because I "disobeyed protocol" and defied supposed orders that didn't even exist, I would have been dishonorably discharged anyway! That's the difference between him and me! He would have returned a hero, and I came back a traitor and deserter!" Samus exploded.

"Since when did you start caring about what other people think?" Lita asked.

"That's beside the point," Samus replied.

"No it's not! Listen to yourself! Waaah! Waah! Poor me! Why couldn't I be a military hero? Why does life have to be so hard? Waaah! Waah!" Lita mocked.

"Shut up," Samus cringed.

"It sounds stupid, doesn't it? Well that's what you sound like. Why don't you think of the things you've accomplished? You raided SR-388, you smashed Zebes...twice! You saved Tallon, and you helped Aether. Come on, Samus, you haven't exactly sat around while the world was crumbling. You even managed to save my life a few times, you gave me the same gift that Adam gave you," Lita ceased.

"Huh? The same gift? What are you talking about?" Samus asked.

"Look, there's something I've got to tell you. I'm ready to talk, but you're not ready to hear it yet. I promise I'll tell you later, but Samus, for your sake, I can't tell you now," Lita said looking directly into Samus' eyes.

Samus paused, looking back at Lita.

"Okay...I'll trust you. You haven't killed me yet," Samus relented, "by the way, why are we going to SR-388?"

"What if I told you that you could get Adam back?" Lita asked.

"Don't even screw with me about that, that's not funny," Samus said.

"I'm not kidding. You'll see what I'm talking about when we get to the research station," Lita responded.

Samus' temperament had changed drastically in the past few minutes. She went from nearly the lowest of lows to halfway excited. Lita had given her renewed hope and a new outlook, as well as a possible link to Adam, and what was the 'gift' she had mentioned?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Samus! I didn't expect you!" Matthew said, running to the ship.

"Frankly, I didn't expect to be here," Samus replied.

"And who is this you have with you?" Matthew asked.

"This is..." Samus started.

"I'm Lita. Hey, where's your prototype C.O.?" Lita asked.

"My...what? How did you..." Matthew looked to Samus confused.

"I've been asking that ever since I met her. Don't look at me," Samus returned with her palms turned up.

"I guess I'll show it to you. It's not ready yet, but it's good enough to show, I suppose," said Matthew.

The trio exited the landing bay of the research facility and entered the hallways. Matthew led them through the corridors.

After a few moments, the group passed a room that had slightly glazed windows and strobing multi-colored lights inside.

"Ooh, what's in there?" Lita asked with childlike fascination.

"Uh...well, that's something we're working on that's not _quite_ as safe as everything else. We'd be best to stay out of the way," Matthew said with beads of sweat forming on his upper lip.

"That's not the specimen, is it?" Samus asked.

"Err...no. Not your specimen, at least. We've done wonders with the metroid you brought us. We've effectively harvested functional DNA from the sample and have learned much about the energy siphoning properties of the species. But let's stay on task here and get to the C.O." Matthew skirted.

"You brought them a live metroid?" Lita exclaimed.

"No, no, no, young lady, I assure you it was quite dead...and very difficult to reassemble, if I might add," Matthew responded.

"That's not good...that's so not good," Lita said.

"It's dead, Lita. It's not coming back," Samus reasoned.

"You still don't get it..." Lita shook her head.

"Ladies, if you don't mind, the lab is just around the corner," Matthew motioned.

Samus grabbed Lina's arm and drug her around the corner and into the lab.

"This, my friends, is one of my greatest accomplishments," Matthew said as he pointed toward a small cube.

"That?" Samus asked.

"Yeah. Haven't you ever seen one, Samus?" Lita asked.

Matthew and Samus both looked at Lita, extremely puzzled.

"What? Just show her," Lita insisted.

"Well, here goes," Matthew said as he touched the cube.

At first, the cube flickered with a light blue hue, then it buzzed like a radio searching for a station.

"Hello?"

"Identify yourself, soldier," Matthew ordered.

"Galactic Federation Commanding Officer Adam Malkovich, sir."

"Very good, soldier," Matthew returned as he smiled with glee and accomplishment at Samus and Lita.

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Uh...by all means, go ahead," Matthew responded.

"Who are our guests?"

"This is Samus Aran, and her partner, Lita," Matthew explained.

"She's not my partner," Samus stated.

"Ah, now that's the Samus I remember,"

Samus' hand shot to her mouth as a reflex.

"Adam..." she squeaked.

"Now, if I remember correctly, you aren't exactly the crying type,"

"Oh...God..." Samus said as her hand trembled.

"Don't go thinking I'm back from the dead, Samus,"

"I...but how?" Samus sputtered.

"This is the product of the Federation trying to preserve my military abilities. It's really kind of boring. The scientists brought me in and recorded my knowledge and behaviors, even my thinking patterns. This little cube is the result. I really think they could have done better,"

"Hey!" Matthew yelled.

"Don't worry, don't worry, you did fine, professor. Anyway, Samus, I know about what happened during "Shattered Ice". Don't you regret for one second what you did, and don't you let anyone fool you into thinking that you did wrong by me. Keep protecting people, that's what you do,"

"But Adam...I couldn't protect you...and now...Alan..." Samus started.

"Samus, you have to let things go. If you can't let things go, then life is going to be a miserable existence. You have to be able to let some people die, it's a part of life,"

Samus stood silent, her face a porcelain white.

"It...zzzzzzzz...stupid cube...zzzzzzz...take care, Samus...zzzz...Lita..."

"Err...sorry about that. Like I said, it's still a prototype. One of these days I'll have it on a completely self-sufficient energy drive," Matthew apologized.

"That is incredible..." Samus uttered.

"It _is_ far more advanced than your ship's A.I., Grady, isn't it? That's no more than a personalized computer with voice data. This, though, this is a complete virtual human being. Aware of its surroundings and the acquaintances of its owner or subject," Matthew lectured.

"Matthew, uh, when you're done with it...can I...or, do you mind if I..." Samus stuttered.

"It'll be wrapped with your name on it," Matthew said.

"Thank you...Matthew," Samus said.

"It's nothing, Samus. Just a courtesy you would have extended to me likewise," Matthew assured.

"Are you okay?" Lita asked Samus.

"Yeah...yeah, I'll be fine in a while. I just...need to recover from that. It's like talking to a ghost..." Samus said, wiping her forehead and face.

"That's fine. We'd be best to rest a while, but we need to get some supplies and head out soon. That way those things don't come here, too," Lita cautioned.

"Okay, I'll see you in the quarters. Matthew, could you show Lita the supply cache?" Samus responded.

"Sure, but why would she need _those_ supplies?" Matthew asked.

"Trust me, she's not looking for food," Samus returned.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

HUNTER LOG 3861

This is almost too much. I do have mixed emotions about the cube, however. There was a lot of stuff "Adam" said that I'm not sure the real Adam would have said. Then again, Lita seems to be more than meets the eye as well. Could it be possible that both the computer and Lita know what the future holds? Surely not. That computer runs off of the protocols Matthew put into it. Something just doesn't seem right. 

Samus out…

"Wow, is this it?" Lita asked.

"What do you mean?" Matthew responded.

"I figured with such a large facility, you'd have more in storage as far as supplies," Lita said.

"You don't understand the purpose of the facility, it is a Biological…" Matthew started.

"Research Laboratory, whose primary function is to provide and maintain an environment for struggling species of both plant and animal," Lita interrupted and finished. 

Matthew simply glared, then walked past Lita.

"Over here we have the oxygen tanks, and over here…" Matthew displayed. 

"Hold on a sec, doc. What I'm looking for is liquid nitrogen and irrigation tools," Lita explained.

"Eh? That's a weird combination," Matthew remarked.

"Look, you know enough about the metroids. Isn't it true that the only real way to contain them is to use intense cold?" Lita asked. 

"Well, yeah, but you aren't planning on fighting any, are you? Haven't they all been eliminated?" Matthew returned.

"You ought to know better than that," Lita said sternly, staring into Matthew's pupils.

"Uuuuuh….ummm….I have no idea what you're talking about," Matthew stammered.

"Sure you do, but I won't linger on it. It's something that has to take place. Look, I need to rig some guns with a way of firing blasts of liquid nitrogen. The best vessels for carrying and expelling liquid are those used in irrigation. We have to take those things and make them into a weapon that would work against metroids," Lita stated as she pointed at piping leaning against the wall.

"Well then, I guess we have some work to do," Matthew said, reaching for a large canister of liquid nitrogen.

---------------------------------------------------

The master control room seemed alive with lit consoles and blinking lights accented by small blips and bleeps. Men and women dressed in flawless white coats roamed the vast room, tinkering with instrumentation as they went about their business.

Samus walked to a man sitting behind a large console with a massive screen. 

"So, what's going on outside?" Samus asked.

"Well, it's rather quiet except for an anomaly I detected about an hour ago," the man responded.

"What kind of anomaly?"

"I'm not totally sure, but according to the shift, it's been getting closer quite quickly. By its approximate speed, it couldn't be a natural phenomenon. It is either a stray weapon or a ship," the man deduced.

"A ship…" Samus sighed.

"Oh, not to worry, ma'am. Its trajectory isn't meant for us. The best I can wager is that it's headed planetside," the man said.

"Planning to land on SR-388…what do you have waiting there, Marcusson…" Samus thought.

Someone suddenly screamed from across the control room.

"Massive energy signature detected! Brace for impact!"

All at once, the entire station shook and loose items fell onto the floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Lita looked up from the floor, the massive tank of liquid nitrogen cradled in her delicate yet powerful hands.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure," Matthew answered, "but I sure am glad you caught that before it hit. Both of us would have been goners."

"Well, luckily, all we have to do is find a way to get a reasonable amount of liquid nitrogen into a reasonably sized container that would be able to be attached to our new 'squirt guns'," Lita said as she stood the tank back in its place.

"I do have some small containers we use for our injection guns. We could refit those for the liquid nitrogen and also use some of the injection guns for your 'close range alternative'. How's that?" Matthew asked with a hint of pride.

"That'll work for me, but don't get too full of yourself. I'm still not attracted to you," Lita shot back.

"But I…you…how…geez," Matthew stuttered.

"Hmm…I also need one of these," Lita frowned.

"But that's a flux capacitor. It's a piece of junk. Some wacko tried to use it for time travel, but it fried his brain…or what little bit he had of it to begin with," Matthew said, "I figured it would be useful for spare parts eventually."

"Spare parts…yeah, I'll be needing this," Lita said as she the

---------------------------------------------------

"Is everyone okay?" someone asked.

Everyone seemed to be uninjured, and the equipment undamaged.

"What the heck was that?" asked Samus.

"It was a shockwave from a ship entering and exiting hyperspace. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the ship made a relatively small jump," the man said.

"Where is it?" Samus peered at the screen.

"Here, let me switch views," the main replied.

After a few clicks, the screen acknowledged his command and pulled up a massive view of SR-388. 

"He's here…" Samus said.

The massive ship had ended its hyperspace jump just inside of the planet's atmosphere. The shockwaves from the jump had cleared an entire hemisphere of clouds, providing for easy passage to the planet surface. The ship had seemingly stalled in the upper atmosphere.

Samus then saw something she had never witnessed.

The three MAC guns at the back of the ship split and maneuvered themselves onto different sections of the spine of the ship. The bridge of the ship then detached and journeyed toward the surface of SR-388.

"What manner of ship is that?" the man asked Samus.

"One far beyond the technology that exists here," came a voice from behind the two.

Samus turned to behold Lita. She was covered in straps containing multiple small containers of liquid nitrogen. On her belt were two holsters, each bearing a nitrogen pistol. Peeking over a shoulder was an automatic rifle fitted with a larger yet slim tank of liquid nitrogen.

"Going somewhere?" Samus asked. 

"Absolutely. That maniac is planning an event that will rock the entire Federation, and his center of operations is on that planet," Lita explained.

"I guess we have no choice, then," Samus said with a hint of excitement in her voice. 

Somehow, between the viewing of the cube and the tension of conflict, Samus' ardor and alacrity from her earlier days returned. Her love for her duty and responsibility now annulled her feelings of penitence for her past deeds. Her errors had to be overlooked as she labored for the greater good of the Federation.

Matthew and others helped Samus and Lita load the ship with the new equipment. Lita hefted a pack onto her shoulder with a strap and grabbed a loose trigger with her free hand.

"What is that?" Samus asked. 

"It's something for the end," Lita said, avoiding eye contact.

"The end of what?" Samus tried to catch Lita's eyes.

"The end of the mission," Lita continued on, unloading the pack into the ship.

After all had been prepared, the group met for their parting.

Lita remained fairly quiet.

"Thank you, Matthew. We appreciate all of the help you've given us. We will return after we finish down there. I'll want to thank you again after we have a successful mission," Samus said, shaking his hand.

"You don't really have to thank me. Lita did most of the work. It was all of her ideas that allowed me to do the work," Matthew admitted.

Both turned to Lita, who had just pulled her hand down from her face. 

"Matthew…it's important that you see the work you've done today as penance. Remember that. You did something that mattered. You accomplished something. No matter what kind of guilt you may experience, and no matter what your mind tricks you into pondering…you helped. Remember that until the day you die," Lita said, nearly devoid of emotion.

Samus and Matthew stood astounded. Both had been shocked by not only the words that had come from Lita, but the cold manner in which they were displayed. 

"Lita…what's wrong with you? That's no way to say thank you," Samus said.

"You'll know the case soon enough. We really need to get going, Samus," Lita said as she turned and entered the ship.

Samus glanced back at Matthew as he nodded. Then she entered the ship and took off toward the planet. 

The die had been cast.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

HUNTER LOG 3862

Lita has been very quiet since we left the lab. She's got something tearing her up inside, and I have a feeling that I'm going to find out what it is. It's almost like she has some precognitive powers or can see the future or something. Maybe she knows the outcome of this conflict…and if she does, then why is she in such a dejected mood?

Samus out…

The trip to the surface seemed incredibly long. Between the rough atmospheric entry and the excruciating silence, time stood still.

Samus broke the silence.

"So I'm guessing that one of us is going to die on this mission,"

"What? What do you mean?" replied Lita.

"You already know what's going to happen, and you evidently aren't in a very good mood about it," Samus said.

"You're catching on, but neither of us will die on this mission. That's not why I'm this way," Lita stated.

"Then why are you so upset?" Samus asked.

"Because after this mission, I have to leave, and after I do, I won't see you for an incredibly long time," Lita said, staring away.

"Why do you have to leave?" Samus inquired.

"I don't belong here. I have to return home after my goal has been accomplished," Lita said.

"Where is home?" Samus asked.

"That's something I can't tell you. It's something you'll eventually find out for yourself," Lita replied.

Samus sat silently, moderately confused.

"Samus, promise me that if anything happens to me on SR-388, you'll bring me back to the ship immediately," Lita said, snapping her head around.

"I don't see that happening, but…" Samus started.

"Promise me!" Lita urged.

"Okay, okay. I'll bring you back. Since you said you wouldn't die, I figured you might make it no matter what. I took you for your word on that. Being psychic, you don't make mistakes like that, right?" Samus replied.

Lita raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not psychic, Samus," she said cracking a small smile.

"Well there goes that theory. I guess we'll have to beat them the old fashioned way, then," Samus said as she checked her arm cannon.

"Ma'am, we're reaching the surface. How close do you want to land to the ship's point of insertion?"

"Where did they land, Grady?" Samus asked.

"Just above the first set of ruins, ma'am,"

"Then you know where to land, Grady. Take us back to the old parking place," Samus said reminiscently.

As Grady took the ship in to land on the ridge, the ground began to quake. Samus and Lita looked out the window as the ground around the ruins cracked and fell in under the flagship's bridge. Out of the chasm, giant glass tanks arose, connecting to the underside of the bridge. Catwalk-like structures rose along with the tanks to serve as walkways. Two staircases extended out from the bridge and connected to the catwalks.

Before long, men dressed in white, escorted by some wearing black, descended the stairs and began inspecting the tanks along the catwalks.

"What is that?" Samus breathed.

"Not good, that's what it is. Marcusson is planning on launching a sort of biological warfare on the Federation. The agent is in those containers," Lita explained.

"Then I suppose we have to destroy it, right?" Samus said, almost as if she were asking for confirmation.

"That particular agent can't be released right now. You would have no defense against it, and neither would I. We would have to dispose of it from far away, which as far as I know, we don't have anything that can do that," Lita explained.

"How far away would we need to be?" Samus asked.

"For a flawless disposal? At least a mile," Lita cited.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Samus asked.

"If you can't destroy the agent, destroy the one who is going to use it," Lita said, raising her nitrogen pistol.

"Then I guess it's party time," Samus remarked.

Samus thought to herself. When was the last time she had gone into battle unaware of what to do?

She remembered. It was during Shattered Ice. She rubbed her forearm as her body acknowledged the thought of the encounter with a mild tingling sensation. She couldn't be careless this time, especially without the company of Adam.

Instead of Adam, she had a wily young woman. One who seemingly had knowledge beyond her years, and a spark of wisdom to go along with it.

Samus couldn't help but remember what Lita had said to Matthew:

_"Matthew…it's important that you see the work you've done today as penance. Remember that."_

Penance for what?


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

HUNTER LOG 3863

Under the conditions, we're going to have to use stealth to get close enough to the tanks. We're currently at the entrance to the ruins, which really hadn't changed a lot since I was here last. It's just as quiet as I left it. Now it's time to get down to business.

Samus out…

Samus and Lita trudged though the dark tunnels of the ruins.

"Samus, remember what I asked you to do?"

"To take you back to the ship if something happens to you?" Samus asked.

"Okay, I was just checking," Lita confirmed.

"You sure seem worried about something. You know it's not good to go into a battle with worries. You have to clear your head…" Samus started.

"…and focus on the task at hand. Yes, I know," Lita finished.

Samus nodded in approval. Lita had learned well.

Before long, the duo came to a large room, over which were the tanks and catwalks. Posts and rails zigzagged and crossed the area, supporting the massive units.

"It'll have to be from here," Samus said.

"I think I have an idea of what we might do," Lita replied.

"What's that?" Samus asked.

"You'll see. Come on, let's climb," Lita said back.

The two quietly shimmied up the steel trellis until they were just under the catwalks.

Samus looked at Lita, who made a hand motion for Samus to get ready.

After a thumbs-up signal from Samus, Lita unhooked a small hose from one of the nitrogen tanks.

Small amounts of nitrogen began freezing a portion of the catwalks.

After a few moments, the frozen area was nearly as large as a manhole cover.

Lita motioned to move back.

They both crossed to the next brace and waited.

Samus watched as one of the men wearing black approached on the catwalk above. Unwittingly, he crossed onto the frozen section. It collapsed and shattered under his weight, the jagged steel ripped at his skin and tore his flesh as his bloody body fell through the hole and landed twenty feet below on solid rock.

Samus heard another noise behind her. She turned and saw that another man had fallen through yet another hole, next to which Lita was perched.

The two swung up through the holes and began their assault.

Other guards were already rushing to the catwalks to suppress the intruders.

Lita turned to her left; three men were running toward her.

In mid-stride, the bodies of the men shifted to that of the metroid hybrid beasts.

Lita stood her ground.

The front monster leapt at Lita, who fired a blast of liquid nitrogen directly into its gaping, fang-bearing mouth.

The guard flopped to the ground and shook with convulsions.

The other beasts stopped in their tracks and decided to approach their adversary with more caution.

One jumped onto the top of one of the containers while the other remained in front of Lita.

Both monsters pounced at Lita at once.

Lita fired three blasts in front of her, connecting with the beast in the shoulder, the stomach, and the neck.

The beast from above swung his claw, but missed as Lita tilted her head.

In one motion, Lita swung around and shoved one of the injectors directly into the monster's side.

Like the first one, it immediately went into convulsions and collapsed to the ground.

Rather than watch, Lita turned to scan the catwalks. Two of the beasts lie on the catwalks in seizures, and the other had fallen over the edge and into the pit. Her area was clear. She immediately ran toward Samus' location.

-------------------------------------------------

Samus cleared the hole and was immediately grabbed from behind in a full nelson. From around the corner, Marcusson emerged.

"My, my, what have we here? A little Samus? And where's your little friend? I'm willing to bet that she's a bit tied up at the moment. You thought you were being so sly, sneaking through the ruins and coming up through the catwalks. The truth is that I knew you were here the whole time, from the moment you left the lab. What? You didn't think that my ship would have let you pass if it were actually activated, did you? I let you get here. Against you, I absolutely have to get the last word," Marcusson said.

"Are you done? I almost went to sleep," Samus shot back.

"Defiant until the end. You never did listen well. That's why I stuck you with Malkovich. He was the only man that had the patience enough to deal with you, and I knew I could count on him to keep his complaints to himself, even when I gave him orders to go to that god-forsaken chunk of ice," Marcusson smirked.

"You…you sent us there?" Samus asked.

"Of course. You were too busy being a boil on the military's ass to realize what was going on at the top. I gained my status as a military tactician. I organized the takeover of the Eta sector and the extermination of the pirates in the Mu sector. I also contributed to the acquisitions of many other areas of the Federation. As far as expansion, I was invaluable. Pretty soon, my military clout became political clout, and that made me into the man I am today. I took great joy in sending you and Malkovich there. I knew that one of you would probably end up dead. Either way, I'd come out ahead. Malkovich was in line to be retired from service. With his status as a hero, we would have challenged my authority with the backing of the people and most of the Federation. Losing him assured my position in leadership. If you had died, I would have brought charges against him for careless maneuvers, along with that, his men would have been killed in 'a tragic misfortune'. His respect would have been lost, and he would have been discharged in shame. Wow…I am good," Marcusson winked at Samus.

Samus was overwhelmed. She didn't know whether to believe this man or accept the morbid truth.

"How could a man like you get so much power?" Samus asked.

"They made me a tactician for a reason. I made a plan, and I executed it. It's a concrete system, and a brilliant science, one you could never understand. There's really no use in trying to explain it to you. Now, unless you have any more stupid questions, I'll have to remove that helmet of yours so I can see the expression on your face as you meet your demise," Marcusson said as he reached for the release.

Gasses hissed as the pressure lock released.

"Ah, I forgot how beautiful you were…too bad you were ignorant, you would have been nice to have along as a figurehead at my side," Marcusson said as he rubbed the side of Samus' face.

There was a twinkle in Samus' eyes.

"Sounds like a great plan to me. Since I'm going to die and all, how about you pucker up and lay one on me," Samus said looking Marcusson directly in his face.

A blast connected with Marcusson's back. He screamed in agony.

Samus flexed her arms and flipped backwards, kicking Marcusson in the chin on the way over. She landed behind her assailant and pushed him forward. One blast connected with his forehead as he fell over Marcusson.

"So what are you going to do now, Marcusson?" Samus asked.

"There's nowhere to go now," Lita said, "you're cornered."

"Heh, heh, heh, ha ha ha HAHAHA! Lita, you immature fool. You thought you could do things differently this time. You thought things would turn out better. HA! You can't outsmart me! You might as well give up!" Marcusson cackled.

"It's not over yet, Marcusson. I've been chasing you for too long, and you thought you had found refuge in the past. Time after time, I jumped after you, but you were always one step ahead of me. This time, though…this time's different. This time, I have Samus," Lita said.

"She can't help you now, little girl," Marcusson breathed.

He stood as his suit altered him into his beast form. He jumped indirectly toward Lita. As he got nearer, his claws screeched across the side of one of the containers. Slash after slash, he left gashes in the exterior of the tanks. Then he ceased.

"Stop me now, maggot!" Marcusson yelled in a bestial voice.

"I will," Lita said.

She shot one blast at the tank, causing it to crack, then she immediately fired three blasts at Marcusson's chest. His head kicked back as he howled and reverted to his human form.

"W-what! What's this! What have you done!" Marcusson screamed.

"Metroids don't like the cold. Your suit couldn't handle the liquid nitrogen. Now it's your turn to say goodbye," Lita said as she pointed at the tank.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Marcusson screamed as the glass tank gave way.

The brownish yellow liquid burst through the cracks and engulfed Marcusson. Samus jumped back to avoid getting caught in the vomit colored torrent.

Samus heard a scream from the other side.

She quickly ran around the section of tanks to the other side to see Lita propped on the railing.

"It got on my leg! You've got to get me back to the ship! NOW!" Lita exclaimed.

"Can you run?" Samus asked.

"No, I can't feel it. I can't go anywhere," Lita said as tears started to well in her eyes.

"Don't worry. I can bring the ship here," Samus said as she pushed a button on her wrist.

Within moments, the ship was touching down just outside of the tank area.

Samus loaded Lita onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry and took her up to the ship.

"Lay me down out here," Lita said.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Samus asked, concerned.

"Get that backpack that I put in there. Also, put in these coordinates for your destination for when you leave," Lita said as she handed Samus a piece of paper.

Within a minute, Samus had returned with the backpack.

"Here you go. And what did you mean by 'when you leave'. You don't expect me to leave you here, do you?" Samus asked.

"You won't leave me here, but I'm not going with you," Lita said.

"What are you talking about?" Samus asked.

"Sit down, Samus. This will be a little much to handle," Lita started, "Samus, when I said that I'm not from here, I meant that I am not from this time. I came here from the future. When the MAC at the Beta Outpost blasted my ship, it destroyed my means of time travel. I had to find a way to get home. At the lab, I found a fully functional flux capacitor unit, which is inside that backpack. I rigged it for a one time, one way, one person trip back to my time. That's so I can get home…"

"That's why you knew about everything…it had already happened…" Samus responded.

"Everything but this. I wasn't supposed to get the parasite on me. We were supposed to destroy this place and Marcusson, then get away. You didn't know much about him because he's a fugitive from my time. He stole a travel unit from the Federation and hid in the past, warping it to affect the future," Lita explained.

Samus sat and stared.

"I have so many questions now…I…" Samus began to choke up a bit.

"I only have time to give you a goodbye. I have to get back so I can be treated," Lita said, "Samus, you have truly saved my life so many times, but none is as memorable as the first. In the future, you will give birth to a baby girl,"

"I…will?" Samus forced the words out.

"Yes, but there will be a complication in the birth. The child will only live for a few brief minutes after leaving your womb. I was in that hospital at the time of the birth. I had just been born, but my heart and lungs were undersized, and I had been hooked up to machines in order to live. Because of your kind heart, you told the doctors to remove your daughter's heart and lungs, and to give them to me so that I could live a normal life. Samus, you are my reason for being here, and my reason for living. There is no way I could ever thank you for giving me the gift of life…" Lita started crying.

"I…no….it can't…" Tears were streaming down Samus' face.

"Listen to me, Samus. You have to go on. I have a way for you to continue doing good. When I use this device, the waves emitted will disrupt nearby neural patterns. If you're close to me when I jump, your short-term memory will be wiped out. You will remember nothing of the past week. Do you want that to happen, or do you want to keep your memories?" Lita said sniffling.

"I…don't want to know about all of that. I want to remember you, but I don't want to have any knowledge of my future. I don't want to have to experience it twice…I couldn't handle that…I can barely handle it now…" Samus replied, wiping her tears.

"Good…I hoped you would say that," Lita smiled, "Here, take this, and put it somewhere where you can read it later. It's not totally important, but I wanted you to have it in case you couldn't remember anything."

Samus took a folded piece of paper from Lita and stuck it into a small compartment on her suit.

"I wish I could say I'll never forget you…" Samus said.

"But you won't. Goodbye, Samus. I WILL remember you," Lita hit the button on the flux capacitor.

A buzzing noise seemingly engulfed the world and a bright light flashed.

---------------------------

"Ugh! It's like static! What the heck happened?" Samus said.

Suddenly the ground began to rumble and an explosion rocketed a fireball into the air.

Samus shifted her vision behind her and saw a large structure engulfed in flames, with several massive tanks under it.

"This doesn't look good," Samus thought as she ran to her ship and jumped inside.

"Should I proceed to the pre-entered coordinates, ma'am?"

"Uh, sure, Grady," Samus replied.

As the ship was taking off, Samus stretched in her seat, but felt something poking her in the side. She reached down and found that one of her suit compartments had been left partially open. She reached inside and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it. It read:

_Samus,_

Remember what you do is very important to a lot of people, especially me. Please, keep doing good things.

Thanks always,

Lita

"Who is Lita?" Samus thought.


	13. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

LOG ENTRY 926

The flux capacitor wasn't as advanced as I had hoped. Time travel has come along way since this thing was made. Modern devices took much of the bodily stress out of jumping, but not this one. I feel like I've been hit by a star cruiser. Something is wrong in the lab, however. No one is here, and there is no evidence that anyone ever has been. The silence is creepy. What is going on?

Lita out…

Lita scanned the room. All of the controls, all of the displays, all of the equipment was unmanned.

She checked her chronograph. It had only been two minutes from when she had originally jumped to the past. So where was everyone?

"This just isn't right," Lita thought to herself.

She weaved through the 'Jump Room', as it had been labeled, and exited into the hallway, which was eerily in the same condition as her last location.

The hallways were usually a superhighway of engineers, scientists, and timecops, but not this time.

Lita continued down the hall until she came upon the data terminal.

She pulled out a small headset from a compartment on the terminal and placed it over her ears.

She adjusted the microphone.

"Search Marcusson," she said.

SEARCHING….

…..

…..

RESULT NOT FOUND…

READY…

"No. That's not right. Computer, search James Marcusson," Lita said.

SEARCHING…

…..

…..

RESULT NOT FOUND…

READY…

"This can't search Samus Aran," Lita tried.

SEARCHING….

…..

…..

RESULT FOUND…

SUBJECT: SAMUS ARAN  
STATUS: DECEASED, COMBAT  
PROFILE: TWO STAR GALACTIC FEDERATION GENERAL SAMUS ARAN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY VICTORIES IN THE FEDERATION'S MOVEMENT TO ELIMINATE SPACE PIRACY. ARAN ROSE QUICKLY IN THE RANKS OF THE MILITARY THROUGH CONSTANT SUCCESS IN TAKING PART IN AND LEADING MULTIPLE RAIDS ON PIRATE STRONGHOLDS. AFTER ARAN'S PROMOTION TO TWO STAR GENERAL, SHE WAS ORDERED TO TAKE TEN DIVISIONS TO THE ALIMBIC CLUSTER. ALTHOUGH SHE PROTESTED SHARPLY, SHE OBEYED HER COMMANDING OFFICER AND PROCEEDED WITH THE OPERATION. UPON ARRIVAL, ALL TEN DIVISIONS, INCLUDING GENERAL ARAN WERE SLAUGHTERED BY SCORES OF BOUNTY HUNTERS.

END PROFILE…

READY…

"N….no….that can't be…then how….I can't…." Lita stammered as she began to cry, "Computer, search…Adam Malkovich."

SEARCHING…

…..

…..

RESULT FOUND…

SUBJECT: ADAM MALKOVICH  
STATUS: CURRENT  
PROFILE: AFTER GARNERING ACCLAIM AS A WAR HERO, MALKOVICH WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED DUE TO INJURIES SUSTAINED IN BATTLE. MALKOVICH CONTINUED TO OFFER MILITARY ADVICE TO THE GALACTIC FEDERATION UNTIL THE ALIMBIC AFFAIR. MALKOVICH NOW RESIDES ON THE PLANET VHAZON.

END PROFILE…

READY…

Tears streamed down Lita's red hot cheeks.

"I thanked her by changing the past and getting her killed…" Lita said aloud to invisible ears.

Her only hope was to find Adam Malkovich…


End file.
